Surrogacy
by charliedee
Summary: Sakura had healthy eggs and a healthy uterus. Karin was born without eggs to produce an Uchiha heir. Sasuke needed Sakura's help to bring a child into this world. SasuKarin. Eventual SasuSaku. T for language and adult themes.
1. Chapter 1

_Surrogacy_

_-Chapter 1-_

_Rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

"Ah, Haru, thank you so much." Sakura mumbled through a yawn she struggled to suppress but surfaced anyways while she waved a hand in front of her face with a smile. The smell of her favorite flavor of tea wafted into his nose and she instantly felt rejuvenated. "You really know how to wake me up when I come back from a mission."

She reached over the light colored wooden counter top of the reception desk and clasped her wet palms over the card take-out cup of tea and pulled it close to her wet face, savoring the radiating heat. "It's no problem, I'm still waiting on Mana to come and pick hers up but you know her timing in the rain."

"Not good." Sakura chuckled as she brought her lips to the small slit in the plastic lid and let a trickle of liquid pass by her lips. It felt good to have something warm when you've just rushed through the pelleting freezing rain to get to work on time. "Do you know how many appointments I have today?" As she talked idly to her friend she walked behind the reception desk to sit her dripping umbrella into the almost rusting metal stand. "I've still got paper work from the clinic..." _I should trail off because I know she's gonna talk forever about it_... "I'm going to get going-"

"Your schedule is fine, three appointments that should be quick, apparently. And you know I'll be up between those appointments to talk about the _clinic papers_..!" With a wink Haru waved Sakura out of the entry way of the Konoha hospital with a devious smile on her face.

When Sakura started working at the hospital she was anticipating the moment where she could have more 'her' time away from Ino but it seems Ino's type never strays far, her own dear hospital secretary just happened to be good friends with the blonde and pulled her into a friendship quite quickly. But she guessed she brought it upon herself when she informed Haru of the forms she was going to be filling out for the Nao clinic just down the street and around the corner. With another sip of her tea she pressed her side into the door of her own office and welcomed back the stale sterilized smell that she hoped wouldn't bug her anymore but yet it still rang through her head.

After she got settled into her mostly comfy rolling chair behind her desk on the opposite wall of her door and finished about half of her green tea and ginger flavored drink when Haru had escorted her first patient into the room with a deep red blush on his face.

"Wait wait wait, no! I didn't know it was a chick doctor!" The man, once inside Sakura's office, said with stutters decorating his sentence and his blush growing a deeper shade. "I thought this was senior Haruno, not h-his, daughter or whatever!" While he spat out those words Sakura analyzed him: he was fully clad in a dark green ten-year-old-looking bathrobe and house slippers still on his feet. It was quite obvious that he'd done something quite embarrassing - enough for him not to want a female doctor.

"Doctor Haruno is an exquisite doctor, Mr. Kurosawa, arguably the best in all of the lands, I'm sure she'll be able to fix anything you need done."

"I just - _I can't_!" He pulled the fuzzy fabric closer to his legs. "She's a chick."

"Mr. Kurosawa, if it's any consolation, I've worked with women and men and I've seen almost everything. It's nothing to be embarrassed nor apprehensive about."

"Fine. Fine!" He turned his back towards the open door to the corridor and embarrassingly untied the long drawstring tied in the front of his robe and let it fall open, revealing what it was he needed fixed. "Me and some friends were drinking some Sake and I left early to get to my girl," his voice turned into a barely audible whisper,"it wouldn't work, y'know? Now don't ask me why but I already had these pills on me, not because I was already having problems as it was! But I took a lot of them because I wanted it to work right then and there and... It won't fuckin' go down! It's been hours and I'm so sore!"

It turned out in all of his brain of good ideas he took one too many Sildenafril Citrate pills to help his erectile dysfunction, not knowing what would happen if he did such a thing. She was a professional so she held back on reprimanding him, but smiled at him faintly. "If you'd like, I know Doctor Tachibana is free during the morning, who is a male doctor. I understand why you were not wanting me as your Doctor." She laughed gently and looked away as he young man pulled his robe closed. "Haru, show him to his office?"

"Thanks." The young guy mumbled and was ushered out of the room, waddling his way back down, leaving Sakura with a giggle.

She only just smoothly pulled the tan folder out of the zipper of her petal pink messenger bag when Haru returned with a curiosity stricken face. "So I went to the clinic to get my results for the screening test and psychology test and it turns out I passed with flying colors." Sakura flipped the cover of the folder open to reveal a great deal of papers. "I just have to fill these out and I'm on their list."

Haru paced over and took a seat in the green patient chair with her legs brought up to her chest, her brown eyes scanning over the words on the first sheet. The words** '_surrogate mother_' **stood out almost immediately. "Eh Sakura, I thought you were just going to be an egg donor? Why the 'surrogate mother' papers?" **  
**

While waiting for her doctor at the Nao clinic to retrieve her for her testing, it gave Sakura time to think about what it was she was doing. Yes, she knew for sure she was to be an egg donor, something she thought was honorable. She was healthy and young and her eggs were healthy - something many women in Konoha needed when more and more fertility problems were quickly arising. Yet there were a few more women like her, who were on the list of egg donors. With egg donors rising and more fertility problems rising, there was a need for surrogate mothers. Sakura couldn't count the horrible times when a kunoichi would be rushed to the hospital with mind-oggling injuries that would result in problems with the uterus or even a hysterectomy. For those women that couldn't even carry a child there was no need to get a donated egg, Sakura thought.

She's young, excellent eating habits, in the peak of her fitness - there was no better time. Her eyes scanned over to the ticking clock on the wall that read she still had eleven minutes until her appointment she she bounded out of the room and toward the Hokage office. _I have to ask Lady Tsunade! She'd kill me if she urgently needed me and I was too heavily pregnant to assist her_. When she stopped right in front of the Hokage's door, she tapped lightly until she heard a 'come in' from within.

"Ah Sakura, what brings you in today? I thought you had an appointment pretty soon at the clinic.."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about Lady Tsunade. After some thought, I've decided I don't want to just be an egg donor, I'd like to be a surrogate mother, for those kunoichi who cannot carry their own."

"Sakura-!" Tsunade's face looked like a mix between shock and pleasantry. "That's a wonderful conclusion to come to!"

Sakura smiled and took a step back toward the door. "I was just making sure you'd be alright with it, I wouldn't want to do it if it meant the hospital would be without a specially trained doctor or you without a specially trained field doctor."

"It's your life, Sakura, you need to get that." Tsunade laughed heartily. "It's been five years since the war, crime rates and overall battles have dropped. Not to mention our relationships with the other countries have been stronger than ever and ninja alike are recognizing it. I'm sure if we need a field doctor or a replacement at the hospital it wont cause me grief to get that done for the duration of your surrogacy. I can't tell you how much surrogates are needed, especially to women who don't have close friends or family that would carry for them." Her eyes flicked over to her small desk-top clock. "Time for you to get going, you have three minutes!"

"Ah! Okay, thank you so much Lady Tsunade!"

"Hello, Sakura?" Haru waved a small hand in front of her face with a raised brow in her attempt to regain her friends attention. "Surrogate mother papers? Why do you have them?"

Snapped out of her reverie, Sakura gave her a faint smile and looked down at the papers with blossoming pride in her chest. Knowing Tsunade was joyful at her last minute revelation told her she was doing the best thing possible. "Sorry - I was just caught off guard with all these papers!" She chuckled almost to herself as she spread the papers out among her desks width. "I have so many patients that come to me looking for ways to 'fix' their uterus either because they lost it through a hysterectomy or any other medical misshapen and it breaks my heart knowing they want a family but cannot have one. Yet here I am, just working at a hospital without even having a man in my life with eggs and a uterus that all work. I want to help them." She ended her sentence with a slight shrug and a guilty looking smile pointed at her friend who's face lit up almost immediately.

"Aw Sakura, you're gonna have a little bun in the oven one day! But what if they need only a surrogate, so they don't even take your egg and you have a baby in your own body that's not even yours." She raised a plucked brown brow and her face turned skeptical. "I don't know if I could carry a baby that's not even going to be related to me in the end!"

"But just knowing that you're giving life to something for someone that is dying to start a family just makes me happy! It wouldn't matter to me if I had to blood relations because it's not like I was going to take part in that child's life in the first place." She glanced back down to the paper and moved away the booklet, revealing legal papers. "I'll be honest, I've already read through the papers three times to make sure I got everything so I just have to sign on the dotted lines through this booklet and fill out my surrogate/egg donor profile."

"Oooh! Let's do the profile together right now."

"Haru you need to go back to work. Come here during lunch break and we'll do that together."

"I put Kazuki in charge of answering calls, stupid idiot needs something to do." She rifled through the papers nosily and plucked out the singular white sheet of paper with a grimace. "Here it is!"

Haru slid the paper in front of Sakura with a single finger and laid a little blue pen beside Sakura's right hand. "Let's get started!"

* * *

_Some adult themes, eh? :) Review please and it'll tell me you want more! If it was boring it's because I'm just introducing the problems/characters/whatever into the story so please bear with me._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	2. Chapter 2

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 2-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Karin never liked taking herself outside of her home. She didn't have anything outside that interested her, she'd tell people that often times questioned why she never strayed far except for the times she needed to buy groceries. She'd also say things that went along the lines of Konoha wasn't an interesting place in the first place, lacking anybody that would want her to get out of the house except for her husband. So she'd just curl up in her living room with a book to read or a newspaper to get the latest information to quell her boredom.

Today was a different day; however, the day she knew she needed to pull herself out of her bed and demand answers from the hospitals OB/GYN.

She drug her feet through the long corridor and found herself in the master suite's en suite bathroom, looking into the mirror with disgust with herself. Angrily, she raked her yellow brush through her tangled red hair despite it feeling absolutely painful and pulled it back into a ponytail. The women of Konoha were all decent looking so she felt the need to compete with them for her husband's attention, even though she was the one who luckily got to sign the marriage certificate in the Hokage's office. "Now the makeup." Karin told herself as she brought the small bamboo makeup kit out of the cupboard beneath the sink and rifled through it's contents, pulling out the few cosmetics she deemed worthy of today. She smiled to herself in the mirror and with a boost of self worth she winked at herself - it was followed with a frown. "These damned glasses!" She pulled them off her face and let them slide against the tiled counter top. "Making me look so damn nerdy - non of these Konoha girls have glasses and the ones that do look horrid!"

She bought these for special occasions, the small case for contacts so she wouldn't be completely blind in her quest to get answers. She opened them with a click and slid her finger in and pulled out the small almost invisible contact lens. She never did enjoy having to wear the things because she was always told her glasses gave her personality but they took away from her looks, she thought. With the lens' in her eyes she deemed herself worthy of leaving the house.

Dragging her feet again, she left the bathroom and entered her bedroom, stopping right in front of her large dresser. Since she got married she liked to think she was a respectable woman so she didn't show that much skin like she used to in the 'good old days', so she grabbed a pair of black thin leggings that reached under her knee and a sleeveless lilac colored shirt.

She drew in a deep breath and stepped outside the entrance to her home, breathing in the fresh air. "I've got to do this!" She swiveled around and stuck the golden key into the small brass lock on the front door and dropped it down into the breast pocket of her shirt. With her nose held high, Karin marched through the pathway leading into the empty streets of the abandoned district and closer toward the hospital. Rounding the corner into the bustling streets of the village she grew to almost despise, she sucked in a deep breath and gracefully avoided every other person that paced through the streets.

She avoided giving dirty glances to shrewd women that huddled together because Karin knew exactly why it was they brought their hands to their mouths and whispered cruel things about her. She did indeed turn heads from the male and female population alike. It was always her head of striking red hair that ran through her family and she prided herself on it, every so often letting the ponytail swing from side to side to give people the time of day to see it.

When all of her flaunting came to an end when she reached the hospital, she drew a nervous breath. It was coming time to get the answers she'd been wondering for quite a while now. She paced over to the reception desk and placed her hands down on the counter, looking down at the woman who was looking off into space.

"Hello?! I'm here for my appointment with Doctor Minami." She snapped, causing the woman to blurt out obscenities and push over her pencil case.

"Ah- I'm so sorry!" She swiped her hand across her desk and pulled out the desk calendar, flipping it to the current date and running her finger down the time list until it hit a name. "Mrs. Uchiha, yes? She's in her office right now, I'll take you to her."

They strode down a corridor with only the idle beeping of machines and the quiet murmur of patients and families filled their ears. Whilst walking Karin glanced into a room and spotted a familiar face around the village and a name known in her house, Sakura Haruno. They passed her door until they reached the OB/GYN section of the hospital where all fertility treatments and check ups happened. "Dr. Minami, Mrs. Uchiha is here to see you."

Karin took her respectful seat across her doctor upon the metal bed with a thin sheet of clean paper laid across. "You know why I'm here." Karin crossed her arms over her chest with an almost dirty look on her face. "Everything you said to do did not work."

"Well are you _sure_ you were doing everything I told you to do?"

"Yes! I haven't been doing any rigorous training, I've never smoked in my life, I don't drink caffeinated drinks, I don't go to the bathroom right after sex." She let out an exasperated sigh. "It's been three years."

"What does your husband have to say about the troubles with conception?"

"He hasn't said anything to me about it. I think his way of seeing it is 'if it happens it happens.' But I know the time is coming where he will ask about it and I wont have anything to say because what you're telling me has no effect!"

"Well it could be an underlying issue. We can do some testing and see what's up with your uterus and ovaries, yes?"

"Anything." Karin knew she had to act fast with this problem with conceiving children because they weren't getting any younger and she knew he wants children - he needs children. "And I don't want to wait for those results - I know somebody that works here and she tells me that you have the results almost instantly! I want them instantly or I swear to God."

The Doctor smiled faintly as she motioned for Karin to lay down on the metal bed. "I can have that arranged but the blood test results usually take about two to three hours, if that's an alright waiting time. Now if it's not a problem with your reproduction organs then it may be a problem with your husbands."

"Pfft. I doubt that." Karin bit out with a sour face, knowing he was too perfect to have that ever happen to him.

After about half an hour of physical exams, getting her blood drawn for testing, and an Ultrasound, Karin found herself tuckered out and curled up on her metal bed scared out of her mind. If it was indeed a problem with her reproduction organs she wouldn't know what to do with herself or her marriage. Having a child in their family was so necessary that she wasn't sure if he'd even stay by her side through this. If she wasn't able to carry his child then their marriage would be based on nothing, wouldn't it? She sighed heavily. Being married to Sasuke was a huge pain in the ass.

As the hours passed, Karin greeted the Doctor back into her room. "So. Tell me what's wrong."

A long silence followed as Dr. Minami scoured over the writing in the sheets of paper, brought forth with information from her blood test. "Well, Karin, it is not something wrong with your husbands organs. From the first read I ruled out it was Anovulaion, where your ovaries were not releasing an egg from your system and I already wrote out a prescription for Clomifene Citrate, to help release the egg. But upon further reading, it turns out your ovaries do not even carry eggs. As for why you're still getting your menstrual cycle, it's a mystery to me."

"So... You're saying there's no way for me to have a baby."

"Well there are egg donors, so we can place a fertilized egg into the linings of your uterus and you can carry the child yourself, yes."

"But that baby wont be mine. It wont even be r-related to me.. It wont even have my red hair."

"No, I'm sorry Karin. But the egg donor is an option-"

"No! It's not! I'm not carrying a child inside of me that has no blood relations to me!"

"There's another option called a surrogate mother, where they would presumably donate their own egg since you do not have one, carry the child to full term, and give you the child once it's born. There's no worry that they would keep it for their own since they sign a waver before we implant the embryo."

"That just doesn't make sense. Them carrying their own child? There's no way that would happen and then they give their child away!"

"Once we talk to the surrogate and egg donor we can sort this all through."

Karin sighed and rested her face in her palms, running all of the scenarios through her head over and over again. She wasn't exactly sure what Sasuke is going to say about all of this - if he were to be indifferent or angry. She stood up and ran her fingers through her ponytail, tapping her toes against the hospital tiles. "I guess I'll talk to him about it.. Call the people anyways, so we can have all of this sorted through if we make a decision."

"Yes, sounds like a plan." The doctor watched as the distraught redhead left her office.

When Karin returned home in the abandoned Uchiha district she immediately kicked her sandals off into the corner and trudged over to the tan colored couch, curling up around a white pillow with her face buried deep. Normally when she was in such a mood she would just go and sleep it off for about a week but this was too serious to keep from her husband and knowing him he'd want to know what was wrong. But then again she didn't want to take any blame for not being able to have children within their three years of marriage. And she'd always thought having a child with Sasuke would be so easy and such a pleasure.

"So.. Frustrating!"

"What's frustrating?" A voice struck through her mind and set off her inner alarm, her crimson eyes peeking up over the pillow suspiciously. She watched as he dropped his bag against the wooden floor beneath her feet, continuing to look down upon her with a raised brow.

"I thought you were coming back tomorrow morning."

"Well I'm here now. What's frustrating? All you do is stay inside so I can't see what'd be so bad."

"Sasuke... There's something I need to tell you."

* * *

_Babam! Sasuke is here! Well, he didn't get too much screen time but he's still here! Reviewreview?_

_Disclaimer: I don't ownnnn_


	3. Chapter 3

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 3-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Usually when he returned home Karin was doing one of three things. Either she was in the kitchen preparing a meal which depended on the time of day, curled up in their bed either reading or day-dreaming, or sitting in their living room off in thought. So it came to him as a surprise when Karin was in ball-formation with her face buried into the couch pillow.

As he saw it, and most likely everyone in the village, Karin had a spectacularly easy life. There was no need to go out and earn money since the entire Uchiha fortune's were bestowed upon him after the massacre, so money was not an issue in their household. She was not taking many missions, if not at all, so there was no need to worry about her life being cut short. And ever since Sasuke had his chakra ban lifted he was always out of the house on missions - so it's not like they had much time for fighting. Or, he wondered, was it _because_ he was always out?

"Sasuke... There's something I need to tell you." She lifted her face out of the pillow and squinted at him - he noticed she wasn't wearing her glasses so either she was wearing her contacts that she didn't like or she just plainly couldn't see. As he took a seat his mind began to wander - had she been cheating whist he was away? He was away on missions a lot so it would leave a big window of opportunity to leave their house and find a man - he shuddered - or bring a man into his house.

He looked at her with a stern face that still remained from the sheer thought of another man in his house and furrowed his brows. "What is it?" He swore at that second to himself that if she did reveal her infidelity he would kick her to the curb because other than marrying him she's done nothing noteworthy. But when the words left his lips she looked scared, the same look she gave him after the incident involving Danzo and immediately he regretting ever saying those words.

"I visited the hospital today." She began she she lifted her body up from the curled up position into a semi-sitting one with her right arm still wrapped around the pillow, her face still partially looking away. Either ashamed or scared, he couldn't tell. "The OB/GYN, to be precise."

The thought of her visiting somewhere that wasn't within the safe confinements of the Uchiha neighborhood baffled him completely but the ob/gyn was another point completely. He'd never brought the topic up to her because he felt she still had some higher ground than him, having the 'almost killing her' and 'I married you, be happy' point against him, so he never wanted to ask more of her. However, he did find it odd that three years into their marriage it hadn't 'happened' yet, and especially since when they first wed Karin gushed about bearing the Uchiha heirs. "What did they say?"

A silence ensued and it became quite obvious what the problem was. "It turns out I don't even have eggs to _make_ a baby," quite visible tears surfaced on her eyes and her voice turned to a whisper, "so this whole time it's been my fault."

He was never one to comfort somebody in their time of need and Karin was somebody that needed to have somebody babying her feelings until they fully healed. He hoped she knew that by now because he didn't fully know how to respond to that. "It's not your fault.. We weren't even trying." Which was the truth on his part completely.

"I was and I know you want children, you need children, so here I am, worried because I know you're going to leave me for a woman that can actually bear your children!"

He scoffed and gazed back over to her. "You actually think I'd do that?" It was a bit offensive, yes, but he was a shitty person in the past so he'd give her that. "Isn't there a way around this."

"There is a way with medical help." She stated with a huff and twirled her red hair around her right index finger, puckering her face to make herself seem more childish. "I wasn't sure what you'd want since you know, prestigious clan and honor you would want to upkeep that would banish if word got out that we sought out help to have a child."

All that was true. It wasn't information he'd want out in the open to diminish whatever pride he had left and ever since he was allowed back in the village everyone already thought he was a joke - he didn't need to give them more ammo. "Then we'll just have to be careful not to tell people, it's simple." He crossed his arms and leaned back against the couch with a puzzled face - he didn't even know the options for 'help conceiving a child.'"What are the options."

Karin's apprehensive posture seems to calmed down and her grip on the pillow seemed to diminish. It made him feel a little bit better. "Well there are two options, I suppose, but one of them I don't want to do. The one I don't want is just getting the help from an egg donor and placing an embryo inside of my own uterus. I'm not holding a child that's not mine I don't care what you say. Then the other option is getting the help of both a surrogate mother and an egg donor and just.. Wait until our baby is born."

Both sounded equally terrible in his mind. He'd always imagined having a child the natural way, not by having to have a doctor create fertilization. He could see why Karin didn't like the first one she listed, seeing as how it was a child that wasn't hers and Karin just naturally wasn't the type of woman to warm up to something that quick. The second one didn't seem that bad because Karin wouldn't be drug down by hormonal moods and that was something he always steered clear of. "I suppose you're right about the second one."

A few minutes of silence ensued once more until she piped up again. "So.. What's the plan. I told my doctor that she should call so if we choose now it would be ready for us."

"If it's the only way, then that's the way we will go."

...

"Alright we'll be coming down." He watched as Karin carefully placed the white phone back in its cradle and swivel around on the bar stool to gaze at him once more, giving him a confirming nod. "That was the clinic. They have someone. She's both an egg donor and a surrogate mother so there's no need to deal with both. Are you ready to go?"

It's been about a week since Karin and Sasuke had a semi heart-to-heart about their problems conceiving a child, a week to think over and confirm this was something he was truly okay with. As long as the child was biologically his and was brought to him with no strings attached. The last thing he wanted was random women showing up at his doorstep saying they donated their eggs and wanted custody. "I guess. And you're sure this is what you want."

"It's what has to be done." She dramatically bounded out from her seat on the stool to the front of the house, slipping her feet into her black sandals and pulling on her over-coat. "And in nine months time we will have our own baby to love."

"Hn." He paced over to the front door and also slipped his feet into his black sandals along with his hands shoved into his pockets. His plan was to nonchalantly walk alongside his wife and just happen to visit a friend in the clinic. He knew Ino was working in the pharmaceuticals in some clinics, so if anyone asked, she was delivering an order and he stopped by to say hello. "Do you know how long this will take."

Once they were out the door and had it locked tight, Karin pointedly gave him a dirty look. "Does it matter? Wouldn't having a child in nine months be worth the little bit of your time?! I mean we should be grateful! I don't have to carry a huge heavy stomach around for nine months, I can just do my normal routine, and all you have to do is whack off into a cup." Could she be any more blatant? "I guess the only downside is that it costs a hell of a lot of money but that's not even a problem." She snorted and they began to leave their lot.

Sasuke always thought his future wife would have some taste and proper etiquette but apparently his own taste in women had changed over the years. He bet his mother was rolling in her grave at this point. He always somewhat feared what his child's vocabulary would sound like if she ever mothered them. He kept quiet the entire walk to the clinic, keeping to himself and appearing that he was just taking a stroll while his wife was a few paces ahead, scouting out the street names.

He only realized they hit the place when he accidentally ran into her immobile body, her eyes glazed over and reading the sign of the clinic. "Nao Clinic."She stated while he rubbed his nose while banged into the side of her head with an annoyed look decorating his face. "Are we ready? Is this actually happening?"

"If we weren't actually going to do this then there was no point in coming."

"Hmph." Was all she stated before snatching his hand away from his throbbing nose and pulled him through the open glass doors. It smelled like any professional hospital/clinic would smell like. Sterilized utensils and lemony soap for the gleaming white tiles beneath their feet, something Sasuke never quite liked. Their sandals squeaked underneath their sandals as they approached the desk, Sasuke staying a steps back from Karin. "We have an appointment." She stated in that snobbish manner she held. "Ah, yes, the Uchiha's."

"Right this way then." The young women stood from her black rolling chair and proceeded to calmly walk down the corridor with her heels lightly clicking against the tiles. They followed after her with Karin right at her heels, most likely just wanting to get this thing over with. When the woman stopped Karin glanced over her shoulder at Sasuke before entering the room where the woman motioned in.

Following after his wife, Sasuke took a few cautious steps into the office and the bright fluorescent lights automatically blinded him for a few moments. _Damn lights.. _With a slightly irritated sigh he rubbed his eyes until the fuzzy black dots scattered the the scene was brought to him. Sitting behind the immediate desk would most likely be the doctor, with her dark hair pulled back into a tight bun with chopsticks lazily inserted and thin framed glasses resting on the bridge of her nose. He deemed her worthy of being the doctor for this procedure. Next was the woman that was sitting in front of the doctor's desk with a sun bleached yellow sun dress on, a light pink messenger bag, and light pink tresses falling onto her shoulders..

Light pink tresses were not something commonly found in Konoha, or anywhere for that matter, so his immediate assumption was right - this woman at their private meeting was Sakura Haruno.

"No."

* * *

_bumbumbummmmm Sakura is here at the meeting. reviewreview_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	4. Chapter 4

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 4-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

A pair of hands slammed down on the counter of the reception desk with such velocity that it immediately awoke the snoozing women behind the slab of wood. "Aaugh!" Her head snapped up and she tried her best to look like she was just bending down to grab a pencil off the floor. "Ah it's just you Sakura, what did you do that for?"

"Because! Things are happening, Haru. Ms. Nao herself called me to tell me they're already in need of my services! Can you believe that?!" Sakura sighed dramatically and pushed herself away from the desk and began to rifle through her bag. "It's just the meeting so I wont be coming back with a 'bun in the oven' but.. It's so close."

Haru sat there with her mouth open like surprised child. "Have you told Ino? Ino would want to know."

"I don't have time, the meeting is in an hour and I want to go home and get ready-"

"Ino would want to know." Haru reached over and picked up the white cordless phone from it's cradle and began to dial a number, which Sakura knew belonged to the blonde girl. "Hi Ino!" Haru greeted her friend with a big goofy grin and a slight chuckle then glanced over at Sakura with a slightly stern face which was followed by her hand covering the receiver. "She's going to be really offended that it's over the phone."

With a huff and a slight growl, Sakura crossed her arms over her chest. "Well like I originally planned I was going to tell her later today.." Haru shoved the phone into her hands. Quickly she brought it to her ear and Ino's demanding voice blared into her ear. "Hii Ino, how are you? I'm good too - yes Haru was right, I do have some big news but wouldn't you rather it wait until I can see you in person? No no not now I'm busy, but, okay fine. Well you know the clinic papers I signed and blah blah blah well I got a call back. Yeah I can't believe it's so soon.. Well I would have told you in person but I got the call last night so.. Alright okay I'll see you later. Buh-bye Ino."

"I told you she'd be angry but she'd be angrier at me if she knew I didn't tell her immediately! Sorry Sakura, self preservation." Haru smiled and took the phone back out of Sakura's awaiting hands and clicked it back in place. "Anyways I guess I wont keep you waiting, but you're working tomorrow starting from your noon shift so I'll chat with you then."

With a laugh Sakura gave her a small wave of her hand. "Alright, wish me luck!" With that, Sakura swiveled around in place and paced out of the hospital.

When she arrived home a few minutes later she dropped her bag against the wooden floor and stretched her limbs out carefully. "Alright, I want a shower." She paced into her bedroom where she sorted through her closet and pulled out her favorite yellow dress, then held it to her body to see what it would look like then nodded to herself. She grabbed fresh undergarments and made her way over to the bathroom.

After her shower she blow dried her hair so it wasn't all tangled and up in a ponytail like the way she normally worked, and glanced at herself in the mirror. She didn't usually wear makeup but contemplated on wearing just a touch today. "It's important, today, isn't it? Hmm." She reached into her small makeup kit poked around but decided against it. Once she was fully changed, grabbed a bite to eat, and brushed her teeth, Sakura took a step out of the door and locked her house up. She shuddered with nervousness but trekked on.

When she made her way to the clinic she felt somewhat relieved, it felt like she was going in for her screening test again and tests were something she was used to; however, meeting the possible parents of your not yet conceived child which is biologically yours but legally theirs was not something she did every day.

With a big push she opened the door to the clinic and the little chime sounded above her head, alerting the front desk she was here for the meeting with Ms. Nao and the private couple. "Hello! I'm here to see Ms. Nao, is she ready for me?"

"Yes Ms. Haruno, down the corridor and to the left." The women sounded from behind the big square monitor of her computer screen and continued on clicking her card game.

"Thanks." Sakura mentioned but her legs carried her down the hall faster than she could have ever imagined and was already in front of the aforementioned door on the left. In big black blocky letters it read _**MS. NAO**_. and Sakura was sure she was at the right door. She tapped her knuckles to the door three times before the women gave her permission to enter.

"Hello, Ms. Nao? I'm Sakura Haruno, I have an appointment with you and the privatized couple."

"Ah yes, come in, sit down. I have a few things I'd like to discuss before they arrive, which is any minute now..." The woman said with her middle and index fingers rubbing her temples. Sakura obliged and took a seat in front of her desk with her hands together on her lap nervously fumbling around. "So, like I told you over the phone the couple is in need of both an egg donor and a surrogate mother. A lot of surrogate mothers don't like to donate their own egg because of the obvious issues, like them growing too attached to their baby during their nine months. As you said over the phone, you're fine with doing both. This meeting is not the official paper signing meeting, but just so the couple can meet you since you are our only available surrogate."

"If they are worried, or yourself are worried, then why don't they pick an egg donor and I'll continue being the surrogate so it's not biologically mine?"

"Well we could do that, but it's really a matter of timing and the work put into this. If they did choose a separate egg donor and stuck with you, we'd have to prescribe a medicine to you both to regulate your hormones and synchronize your ovulation dates, so it would just flow, but since you're both we can just skip the extra step that would take time to do."

"Ah, that makes sense. I can assure you that no matter what they choose, whether it's biologically mine or not, I'm sticking with this."

The woman nodded and smiled heartily at Sakura. "You really need to know how much this means to the families of Konoha. Many people in this village are so old fashioned that they'd never think twice about donating their eggs or carrying a strangers child. We are in desperate need."

"Ah. I'm not sure if this is private information, but why is the couple having trouble conceiving?"

"The wife was born without eggs. Such a shame when the body fails to do a thing like that, something that is essential to procreation."

Three sets of footsteps drawing close alerted Sakura to the door, her keen senses already doing her good. _They're here. I have to look presentable_! Quickly she ran her fingers through her hair and pushed it every way to get it perfectly straight and out of her face. The door seemed to open in slow motion and her heart began racing a mile a minute - what will they look like? What kind of people were they? Would they like her? She stood up and her knees locked.

The door opened and the woman working behind the desk was the first on in Sakura's line of sight. _Come on, move it_! A shadowy figure moved into the light of the office and the striking hair color almost completely blinded her. A head of bright red hair with the only thing Sakura's attention was drawn to and there was only one person in this village that that hair color belonged to. Her jade eyes flicked to the woman's face and locked gazes with crimson colored eyes behind a set of glasses that stared at her, screaming shock. If Karin was in here then that meant only one thing, and that one thing was walking in right at that moment.

The one, the only, Sasuke Uchiha paced in without suspecting his former team mate just so happened to be in the room alongside them. He waited until the receptionist closed the door to look around the room. She mentally began to answer her questions. What will they look like? They looked like her former team mate and the woman that joined Konoha after the war basically attached to his arm, that's what they looked like. The man that tried to kill her when his life and mental state were in the gutter all those years ago. What kind of people were they? Well all former subordinates of Orochimaru and ex Akatsuki, that only showed what kind of people they were; however, since she knew Sasuke way before he lost his marbles and left, she had a different opinion. He was the man she used to love, but now she only had love for him in a brotherly way, like Naruto. Sasuke was the reason she didn't think she'd have a man in her life to share a family since he returned after the war five years ago they lost contact with different jobs they kept but occasionally were dragged out for ramen with Naruto. They barely spoke. Would they like her? She wasn't sure anymore. She was civil with Sasuke but Karin was another story. It wasn't like they fought regularly but she was never out. No one sees her anymore. Overall this was not a situation she was hoping for.

When his face turned and his ink black eyes glanced into her own she knew this meeting wasn't going to be like she expected. They stared at each other for a moment before he took a step back toward the door and his mouth opened to speak. "No." Was all he said and she couldn't tell if it were directed at her or both her and the doctor.

Sakura stayed quiet but glanced over her shoulder to peer at Ms. Nao, who's face turned upward when the words left his mouth. When she looked back Sakura saw Karin toss her fist back into his stomach gently to shut him up.

"What's wrong, Mr. Uchiha?"

"Nothing, it's nothing!" Karin piped up before he could even speak and gave a terribly faked smile to both Sakura and Ms. Nao. "Continue, please." Karin shuddered to herself and paced over to the seat beside Sakura, sitting down immediately, leaving Sakura and Sasuke the only ones standing. With the attention drawn to her, Sakura plopped down into her seat and awkwardly just stared at Ms. Nao.

"Well then, we will continue... If there's something that needs to be said, then please put it out there." Sasuke stayed quiet and leaned against the wall in the corner with his arms crossed over his chest and his attention and gaze glued elsewhere. "Alright, well, this meeting is set up to meet each other and to over view Ms. Haruno's profile, because you don't want to receive an egg from a person you're just not feeling right about."

The entire time Ms. Nao idly spoke about the rules and preparations, Sakura would glance back over her shoulder and Sasuke was still keeping to himself, looking off to the open door to his right with a stern look glued to his face. She wondered what he was thinking of.

"So the final question is that, this is something we can finalize and get the papers worked out for our next meeting?"

Karin and Sasuke were quiet, well, Sasuke remained quiet the entire time, but Karin was never quiet for this long. It was awkward but Sakura supposed she understood. She wouldn't know what to do if she were in Sasuke's shoes. "Can you.. Give us some time." Karin glanced up at Ms. Nao with an unreadable face.

Ms. Nao nodded and immediately Karin withdrew herself from her seat, shared a glance with Sakura and turned her back to them both. She watched as Karin exited the room with Sasuke leading her.

Ms. Nao piped up with a bored sounding tone. "What was that all about."

* * *

_Aww everyone is getting all worked up saying they don't want Sakura to love Sasuke right away haha. Don't worry, it was never my intention to make her a heart-broken love-sick puppy that only wants his attention, you have my word. _

_Thanks for the reviews! review some more? ;)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	5. Chapter 5

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 5-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

The entire walk home from the clinic Karin stormed angrily in the lead knowing Sasuke was in tow. She was so angry that her hands were balled up into angry fists and her knuckles were pure white. She continued to stomp all the way through the Uchiha compound until she shoved the key into the lock and stormed into the house. She swiveled around with her hair going all around and looked at Sasuke with such a furious face he took an immediate step back from her.

"I can't believe it!" She screeched and turned into the living room, jumping onto the couch and pulling her knees up to her chest with a huff. "You can't just refuse to use her!"

"Hmph, I can't, can I? You don't understand Karin." He scowled and crossed his arms over his chest while he leaned against the door frame into the living room.

"I never understand, do I Sasuke. You want your freakin' bloodline to die out?! Hmm?! I know you're not that stupid!"

"You know that's not what I'm talking about. I'm not using _her_, I would choose anybody _but_ her."

She shook her head and pointedly gave him a dirty 'are you stupid' look. "It's not about SAKURA, Sasuke, she's just a... A freakin' walking womb, okay?! She has no impact on our lives whatsoever in this whole ordeal!"

"You wouldn't understand, Karin, because you've never had anybody close to you." Sasuke bit out rather harshly, and because whenever he speaks he doesn't think though what may or may not be hurtful to other people, so he was surprised when Karin's face contorted into one of pure shock and hurt. He was a stubborn man, but he knew his limits so he noticeably calmed down, his face relaxing with a sigh. "Karin, you know-"

Karin put up with a lot of shit in her lifetime. A lot of it happened before she met Sasuke like family doings and such, but Sasuke threw a lot of shit her way and she always took it. So the minute he wanted to calm down after he was the one who said the cruel words Karin took to her feet and stormed out of the room in a rush with tiny little droplets of tears brimming at her eyes. She flung open the shoji and slammed it back behind her, too angry to scream anything in his face because frankly, she gave him enough of a reaction and that's exactly what he wanted when he said hurtful things. She stormed over to their large bed and flung herself down onto it and threw the blankets over her body and face.

She heard a pair of footsteps and mumbled "if he dare come in here I swear..." to herself but the footsteps never once faced the hallway to their room, they continued on to the other part of their house. With a scrunched up nose, Karin snorted. "He knows what's good for him."

...

The next morning Sasuke was sitting at the island in his kitchen with a fresh cup of tea in his left hand while his right hand clutched the morning paper. The sun was just beginning to rise above the skyline of Konoha, which was Sasuke's favorite time to wake up; however, this morning he was in a somewhat irritable mood. He ended up sleeping in the guest bedroom of his own house and he realized how uncomfortable those ancient beds were. He felt bad for any future guests he had because their backs would surely not be happy in the morning like his currently was.

As he took a slow cautious sip of his steaming hot tea while his eyes scanned the words on the paper before him, he was surprised to hear the sliding of a shoji down the hall where his actual comfortable bed was. Karin was never an early riser and when she was forced awake at the wee hours her mood shifted dramatically into an unconditional bitch and frankly, after yesterdays events, Sasuke was in no mood for raging Karin.

Once he saw her combed red hair and awake looking face he was almost pleasantly surprised that he wouldn't be looking at an eyesore. She paced into the kitchen and spotted the idly sitting cup of tea Sasuke made just in case she were to ask where _hers_ was, and cupped it in her hands. Her sad looking eyes stared into the small waves in her cup as she breathed and never looked up until she began speaking.

"You know you're right. I never really had anybody close to me in my lifetime except my family. So I don't understand what it would be like to need help from a close friend, but.. She is a good person, and she is willing to help even after everything crappy you put her through, and you know, you've done some crappy thing to me too but I always went back to you. So I guess all I'm saying is that if you don't accept her gracious help then you can go to the Hokage's office and pick up divorce papers because I'm certainly not bearing you any children through our marriage."

After her long sentence Karin drew in a long breath and sighed gently to herself, feeling as if a ton of rocks were lifted off her chest. They sat there in silence sipping at their tea until Sasuke plucked the right words and strung them together. He wasn't sure if they were the right words or not but at least he was trying to communicate with her.

"You're right too, Karin. I've been a pretty 'crappy' person in my life weather I'd like to admit it or not. I had neglected Sakura for the most part of my life and treated her like dirt and when you came into my life I did the same exact thing with you too. I was in a dark place and almost killed you, yet you still forgave me in the end, like Sakura had."

"Then why did you cut both of us out for _two years_ after the war?" She sounded quite skeptical and even her face said so yet her eyes were quite serene, because she felt calm and somewhat safe, and was happy he was opening up.

"I didn't want to hurt anybody anymore. Sakura would speak to me as if nothing ever happened and then you were there, continuously persisting that we get married like you always talked about back then." Karin snickered as that came up, remembering that like it was yesterday. "I'm just saying that I don't want to ask anything from anybody I've ever hurt."

"Well it's not like Sakura curled away in disgust when you entered the room. She still wants to help - I guess you weren't listening to us speaking with Ms. Nao, but she never even thought differently of us being the couple that walked in. If she was still angry with you from what happened she would have backed out. I don't like that it's Sakura, I guess I'll give you that, but she's the only surrogate there is right now and mostly everyone in all of the countries hate us. She's our only hope, unless we do divorce and you find another woman that's able."

Sasuke gave her a half-smirk and shook his head slightly. "You're ridiculous."

She gave him a smirk back and sipped at her tea. "I know." She stayed leaning against the counter, staring at her husband for a while more before she broke the silence yet again. "So what is it. Will I be calling the clinic or will we get the Hokage to sign away our marriage."

He took his last sip of his tea and carefully set it back on the counter top. "There's no need to get the Hokage involved, Karin, I've already called the clinic."

"Oh Sasuke!" She squealed happily and threw her arms up into the air with pure delight. "I knew you'd come around!" She pranced over around the island and hopped up into his lap, wrapping her arms around her neck and burying her face into his chest. "Thank you."

...

"Hello? Ms. Nao? Ah yes, hello! How are you? I'm good thank you! Uh-huh. Oh, okay. Yes I'm still in. Thursday at four... Alright that sounds great. Yes, I'll see you then. Bye."

"What was all that about?" A certain voice piped up from the corner of her living with a curious undertone that came with a raised brow. "Eh, Sakura?"

Sakura smiled and placed the phone back in it's receiver, glancing over to the small armchair Naruto propped himself up in. He looked utterly ridiculous because he was just too big for the thing - what with his legs curling over the sides and his neck bending backwards unnaturally. "Aren't you uncomfortable Naruto? I mean that chair isn't meant for sitting, it's almost an antique.." She laughed and sat down on the right side of her light yellow couch opposite of the chair, locking eyes with Naruto for a moment before cackling again.

"I'm fine." He stated and let his eyes wander the popcorn ceiling, completely enamored with it. "But seriously what was the phone call about? I was talking with Ino yesterday and she said something about a clinic - you better tell me if you're okay!"

"I'm alright, Naruto, no need to worry. I've just been doing a lot of paperwork and working out some things I've decided."

"Like what?"

"Well, I'll put this as simply as I can." She tapped her finger against her chin idly. "I'm going to get pregnant soon."

"WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SAKURA! THESE ARE THINGS I WANT TO KNOW! WHO IS IT!? I SWEAR IF IT'S BUSHY BROWS.."

"What does he have to do with it...?"

"SAKURA YOU CAN'T GET PREGNANT YOU'RE TOO YOUNG! YOU HAVE SO MUCH GOING FOR YOU!"

"I already have the job position I was working for, Naruto..."

"SAKURRAAAAAA I WANT TO KNOW!"

"Then let me talk!" She boomed loudly over him as he jumped up in her face to demand answers, his face red with anger and slight embarrassment at the image of pregnant Sakura. He cowardly tiptoed to the seat beside her on the couch and leaned in for answers like a little child. She let out a deep breath of air before recomposing herself. "It's not like how I said it.."

"Then what, Sakura?!"

"Shut it." She growled. "Not because I'm in a relationship or anything. I've signed the paperwork to become a surrogate mother, and I already have a couple that's in need of me." She left out the part where their former team mate Sasuke was the one who needed her to carry his child, partly because she was polite and respected that he was embarrassed by it, but she was also legally tied to not say a word unless given permission. "I'm going to carry their child for them."

Naruto looked absolutely dumbfounded with his mouth agape and blue eyes the size of golf balls directed at her. "Ew, so how does that work?! Are they going to take a turkey baster.."

"Stop right there. That's absolutely NOT how it's done, Naruto, stop listening to those dumb teenagers on the street, they don't know anything! It just so happens that they are in need of an egg donor, you know, the women's part of making a baby, so I'm going to be their egg donor as well. They'll take one of my eggs out, fertilize it, and implant it back into me."

"But, Sakura... It's your baby.. But you're just going to give it away like that, like you don't even care?" His bottom lip quivered slightly.

"Naruto, it has more meaning than that. It's giving a family a child when they can't do it themselves! I have plenty of eggs and I am in shape to carry a child. I have all the time in the world, so why not do something good with myself."

"Oh.. Can you tell me who it is then? Please please I want to know!"

"Sorry Naruto. Privatized couple. Besides, you don't know them."

"Aww man!"

She knew if he knew there would be some tension between their team and she didn't want anything like that to ever happen again. If she refused to help Sasuke in his time of need then she would stir the pot and create even more hardships in his life which she would never wish upon him, ever. If she just needed to carry his child that was biologically hers as well she was going to do what she was legally bound to do, deliver that child to him. She laughed at the thought of what her younger self would be thinking. _I'm having Sasuke's baby! My life wish has been completed_! She would have been screaming at the top of her lungs but now that she's matured there was none of that thought process running through her head.

"Eh, Sakura, what are you chuckling at?"

"Oh, nothing Naruto. Nothing."

* * *

_Mostly dialog but Naruto is here?! Yay! :) Thanks for the reviews! I haven't gotten flames yet so I'm expecting them hehe. Please review! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! _


	6. Chapter 6

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 6-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

It was Thursday, two days after Sakura got the phone call that the surrogacy would continue on like they had originally planned. It wasn't 'just' a meeting like their first encounter, it was the legal signing of papers, signing away her rights to her baby, over viewing the process and setting up yet another date to fertilize the egg and implant it within herself. You could say she was scared, as she lay soundless on her bed top with her arms stretched out at her sides. "I will biologically be the mother of Sasuke's baby." The words just didn't seem to stick with her because it seemed her whole life she was shot down by everybody telling her she would be a nothing to Sasuke. She may still be a 'nothing' but she would always have her DNA in his child.

"I have to get ready." She told herself again as she sat up and looked around her room until she spotted her already planned outfit, a simple red tank top with a regular white skirt. She pushed her legs through the fabric and pulled the tank top over her head, satisfied with it, she paced to the bathroom and began her regular morning routine.

She was still nervous about word getting out - or Naruto finding out just who exactly she was carrying a child for. "Oh boy if he found out." First he would most likely be disheartened for some odd reason, probably because in his youth he always imagined he and Sakura would get together and have children, not including Sasuke. After his depressed state he'd grow angry, really extremely angry at Sasuke. He'd storm over and demand why Sasuke would ever ask such a thing from Sakura and that he doesn't deserve her egg and nine months, and even try and pick a fight with the Uchiha. After that he may or may not be mad at her and tell her she was too good to ever do such a nice thing for him, and even though they made amends, he'd never let her do anything for him ever again. After his anger died out he would give them acceptance, of course only after Sakura sat him down and threatened to make sure he'd never see the job as Hokage ever in his life. Then maybe things would go back to the way they were, after she gave birth to the child and Sasuke and Karin were pleased.

After she locked her door, Sakura took yet another deep breath and made her way for the clinic to go face to face with the couple yet again.

The chime sounded above her head when she entered the clinic and the secretary's head peered up from behind her desk. "Ms. Haruno, Ms. Nao has requested she speak to Mrs. Uchiha once they arrive before anything else."

"Oh, alright, that's fine." Sakura gave her a curt smile and turned around and spotted one of the few plastic chairs in the waiting area. She took her seat and picked up a fashion magazine from the dark brown end table, reading the cover of it before she opened it. She was never one to follow fashion trends in the village, it was more meant for the citizens of Konoha since kunoichi could never wear such ridiculous things in battle. As she flipped through the pages with an amused smile playing at her lips the chime sounded again.

Sasuke and Karin entered the clinic, once again Karin was in the lead of the two and was the first one at the desk. Sakura watched as the secretary tell Karin the same thing she was told, followed by Karin nodding and looking back to Sasuke for conformation. He proceeded to give her a half nod-shrug like he was known for, and she followed the secretary down the corridor.

Sasuke turned around and they locked eyes, which was partially awkward because whenever you locked eyes with Sasuke he always looked so angry. "Hello Sasuke." She greeted him nicely as she folded the magazine over her lap, idly tearing the edges of the paper rather nervously. She almost felt bad because he looked almost lost without Karin being there, possibly because if he was caught in here by himself Karin would have taken the grunt of the embarrassment? However, he did nonchalantly make his way over and take a seat on the white plastic seat, leaving a single seat in between them.

"Sakura." He greeted her indifferently as his eyes were stuck forward and his hands were stuck into his pants pockets. After many years of knowing him Sakura could tell his emotions apart better than most.

"You know, Sasuke, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm not going to tell anybody, I know you wont, and I doubt Karin will. As for me, just know that I'm more than happy to help. I'd do anything for my friends."

Silence.

"Thanks."

They sat there together for about ten more minutes when Ms. Nao stepped out of her office and looked Sakura directly in the eyes. "I think we can go in now." She told him and abruptly stood from her seat, pulling her messenger bag close to her side and waited for Sasuke to stand so they could walk together. He nodded and stood, and the two walked down the hall together.

When they entered the office, Karin was already seated in front of the desk and upon the desk were many piles of papers and Sakura knew from that moment on, that this would be a long day. "Hello Ms. Nao." Sakura greeted and took her respectable seat on the far right of the three chairs, leaving Sasuke to sit in the middle of the two women.

"Hello Sakura, Sasuke." Ms. Nao took her seat in her rolling chair and folded her hands on her desk, eyeing all three. "I hope you three are prepared - we have a lot of paperwork to go through."

Sakura was used to going through a lot of paperwork, either with filing patients prescriptions into their folders, or their exit papers, so she was somewhat used to it. Karin; however, groaned in displeasure and her head slumped down. Sakura guessed Sasuke was used to the paperwork, since, well, when he returned back to Konoha he had a lot of things he needed sorted out with the Hokage.

When all the little petty documents were out of the way, cast aside to a growing stack on the right side of her desk, came the most important documents. Ms. Nao slid over a few documents to Karin and Sasuke, but slid over a package to Sakura. "Sakura, these documents you must read. They aren't like the others that you can just skim and nod."

Well Sakura was naturally just a fast reader but she didn't object. She picked up the package and began reading it through her mind, slowly, so Ms. Nao would be pleased. _Oh, it's this paper_.. The one she knew would be coming at her full speed today. After she flipped the first page back, there was a signature to confirm she read what it stated. The next page she continued reading, followed by a signature, and so on and so forth. She continued on for a full ten minutes until she came to the last page.

_My signature confirming this child is legally not mine. _The dotted line stared at her, taunting her. She gulped and flipped the pen around in her fingers. She felt sweat at her neckline and she felt the unsure eyes of Ms. Nao glaring at her. _No matter how much I fall in love with this baby over the next nine months, I'll be forced to pretend I have nothing to do with it. _She held the pen nervously between her index finger and her thumb, her joints at the point of aching now. She pressed the small black inked nib of the pen to the fresh white paper and blinked. _What's my name? Ah._ Gently, and careful not to mess up her own name, she drug the pen across the smooth surface until it wrote exactly what she wanted.

She let the pen drop onto the desk quietly and allowed herself a long, deep breath.

Ms. Nao's nimble fingers quickly pulled the paper away from in front of Sakura and in front of her own face, making sure everything was filled out accordingly. Next she pulled Sasuke and Karin's papers and shuffled them together.

"Now we can begin to discuss when this will happen." She stated calmly, moving the papers into one stack on the edge of her desk. "What's a date we can all agree on. I know my schedule will be free starting on Sunday morning."

"I can't." Sasuke stated with a monotonous voice. "I have a mission set for tomorrow evening until roughly Monday evening to Tuesday morning."

"Alright, then will Tuesday afternoon work out?" All three nodded in unison. She pulled out her agenda and scribbled a few things down. Sakura saw her write down the words 'In Vitro Fertilization - afternoon' into the date for Tuesday.

"Well, the date is set." Ms. Nao gave them a dry smile and scooted her chair back to stand up yet she remained seated. "Just to go over what will be happening then, we will remove the ovum from Sakura and," she motioned to Sasuke quickly, "introduce the sperm and ovum in a fluid medium inside of our laboratory. Let it settle for two to six days, then have Sakura come down where we will then proceed to transfer the zygote into her uterus and then two weeks from then, Sakura can take a pregnancy test and it should come out positive." She smiled and looked around their faces for equally happy looks.

Karin looked somewhat disgusted with this revelation, Sasuke still held his stoic face, and Sakura felt it was needed to smile to make up for their lack of one.

"Thank you Ms. Nao." Karin stated un-enthusiastically, drawling out her words like a child that just didn't care - or in her case, an adult that didn't seem at all thankful for the help she was receiving. "Do we have anything else to do here?"

"No."

With that, Karin gave her a nod and stood up with a stretch, letting all of her frustrated joints crack in the process. "We'll see you Tuesday then." With that Sasuke stood as well, shared a second glance at Sasuke and left alongside his wife.

"Sakura, be honest, is there anything between you three I should know of?"

"No.. Me and Sasuke used to be teammates, that's all."

"And there wont be any.. Differences between you two, then?"

"No. There wont be."

* * *

_Thanks so much for the reviews! I love to see what you guys will think will happen! :) As for why Sasuke married Karin (since a lot of you are wondering) will be explained soon. Veryyyy soon. :) sorry if this chappy was boring, but it's a crucial part! keep reviewing! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 7-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

The following day the hospital called Sakura in for an emergency case at five thirty in the morning. Her pink colored pager lit up her whole room in a blinding flash of blue and the annoying chime of different tones rang through her ears, making the once peacefully sleeping Sakura sit up straight. She clutched it tightly between her fingers and read the simple code on it. It was a Code Orange which meant only one thing.

On the back of her I.D. tag there was a list of the different color codes and their meanings, which she memorized the day she began working at the hospital. Code Orange was a disaster or mass casualties which meant there was a lot of work to be done right at that moment. She threw herself out of the duvet covers and right into the kitchen where she quickly grabbed a granola bar and then practically flew to the front door where she pulled on her black sandals and pulled on a white cardigan over her pink pajama tank top. She grabbed her messenger bag off the hook and bounded out the door, her pager still blasting in her hand.

She bounded across the rooftops quickly and gently, mindful to the lucky people that were still fast asleep. "I've gotta get there, I've gotta get there." She repeated as the pager continued to blare off, being the only light in the entire village it seemed. She flew down and landed in front of the hospital double doors and ran in, her eyes alert and ready for the mass bodies.

"HARU!" She stormed over to the double doors that connected the emergency room to the corridor to the regular hospital, where Haru was currently standing chatting with a nurse. "What the hell is this?!" She shoved her pager into her friends face, still reading Code Orange.

"Oh yeah - there's still emergency cases, they're coming right now." She stated as she took a sip of her black coffee, her face smug.

A few minutes later the emergency double doors flung open and three people on stretchers were escorted in, all three partially covered in blood. "Haru, I'm pretty sure that doesn't count for a Code Orange! Review your I.D. tag!" Sakura half-playfully smacked the back of Haru's head and turned towards the three patients, ninja helping their bodies onto the tables.

"Tell me what happened." She probed while she quickly pulled on her yellow scrubs and pulled her white lab coat over her shoulders. She tied her hair back into a messy ponytail and took the clipboard from the nurse, reading the hastily written name.

"We don't know the full story but I'll give you what we got. Apparently these criminals, who are wanted by the police, have been experimenting with explosive tags, which we find it blatantly obvious with the other patient." He pointed to the third man that was wheeled in, both of his shins were blown to bits. "Blew up this entire apartment, set off a chain reaction with these boxes of explosive tags, entire place is gone. Him here, has glass embedded almost every where on his entire right side and about fifteen percent of his front body. This man, over here, sustained second degree burns on his entire front body, his face included, the last man over here, burns covering his entire body and unfortunately the explosion happened near his legs, resulting in this.."

"If it was an apartment, then wouldn't there be other tenants in the building where this happened? Wouldn't they be injured?" She inquired as she walked over to the last man who had his legs blown away, occasionally jotting down notes in her clipboard.

"Yes, they're fine, shaken up, but fine. We got the fire down almost immediately upon arrival."

"Ah, that's good. I'm going to get to work on this man here, he's loosing quite a lot of blood from his legs. If you could, grab that nurse over there." As she waited for the nurse to arrive, she quickly began working on his legs that were still spurting out blood, luckily, she's dealt with this before so she wasn't in the least bit nervous; however, he was in quite a predicament because she would usually preform a skin graft surgery but he didn't exactly have any skin to graft. "Alright, can you start removing the dead skin from his body, we don't have time to move him to an operating room so we'll just do it here. After that I'll ask you to start giving him Intravenous fluids, get his weight off the chart and do so accordingly. When that's done all I ask of you is to spread the ointment on all exposed parts of his body then help the other doctors on the other men."

"Alright Doctor Haruno! Your father just signed in." She gave Sakura a timid smile and began prepping the tools needing to extract the burnt skin away from his body.

Just like the nurse said, in walked her father looking tired as ever wearing his bed slippers. He had his dull-pink hair tied back, and she even spotted his white and blue striped pajama bottoms poking out from underneath his lab coat. She put all of her trust in her father with his medical work, so she knew those other men would survive without her. As she worked on the mans bloody stumps with her rejuvenating Mystical Palm Technique, her father lazily walked over to the man in the middle, catching a glance at his daughters work.

"Ah! Sakura! Look at that technique, you've gone so far!" He gushed over her in a friendly manner but he had a somewhat distraught look in his eyes which puzzled her. His man groaned yet he flipped the clipboard between his fingers, completely ignoring the pleas for help. "So - I heard some things around the hospital about my daughter..." She raised an eyebrow. "...THAT YOU'RE GOING TO GET PREGNANT?!"

She grit her teeth together. "Yeah and who the hell said that." She snarled and looked around the emergency, only a leg was visible to her from behind a light green plastic screen. A leg that was wearing orange pajamas...

"Well your friend Naruto of course. Sakura, you better tell me who..."

"Dad! You have a patient to tend to, please start with him and I might just tell you." Immediately the man began working on the injured fellow, treating his second degree burns as fast as he could, looking up at his daughter angrily occasionally. Shaking her head, she mumbled "you're ridiculous, all of you."

As the minutes flew by, Naruto decided to show his face, only wearing his orange pj pants, white t-shirt, and sleeping cap which looked like it was intended for a child. "Hey Sakura! You're so amazing at what you do!"

"Why are you even awake at this hour, Naruto."

"Well their apartment building is right beside mine so they woke me up with their explosion! I was like, one of the first to even get in there and drag their sorry butt's out of there. So naturally I can't go to sleep, Sakura, the adrenaline is rushin' through me!"

"Alright next question.. Why did you tell my father about me 'getting pregnant?' It's not 'me getting pregnant' and I already told you that."

"Ehhh, I'm sorry Sakura, I thought he'd know, since he is your dad and all."

"Ugh. You know, I was going to tell him on my own time, in my own way so he'd actually understand. Now he thinks I'm just going around getting pregnant" She growled and her chakra spiked, throwing her man into an awake, upright position.

"Ah-ah- AAHHHH! MY LEGS!" He screamed at the top of his lungs and began throwing his arms all around. "And my skin! MY SKIN! WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED TO ME?!"

Sakura groaned. "I don't want my morning to go like this. Alright, nurse, could you please put him under. And Naruto." She squinted at him angrily. "Just - go do your own thing. I need to work."

"I'm gonna pick you up later for ramen, kay?" He announced before he exited like she asked, leaving her with some sort of peace.

When she glanced over to her father, Sakura saw that her father was already done, and standing beside her with his arms crossed.

"Tell me now, Sakura, I'm curious. Just WHO are you getting pregnant by?" He crackled his knuckles menacingly but she never once faltered. "And does your MOTHER know! God only knows what that woman will say!"

"Alright, really all it is, is that I signed up to become a surrogate mother. That's all."

"Traditional or gestational?"

"Traditional, in this case."

"Oh God, so biologically I'll have grandchildren that I cannot even see? You're killing me." He drawled dramatically. "Please tell me you told your mom."

"Yes, actually, I have told her because she is an easier person to tell about such things."

He rolled his eyes and his face turned sour. "Thank you, Sakura."

She merely rolled her eyes and continued treating the man.

...

Later that day, when noon was just rolling in, she was finished with the men and was able to dodge her father through the halls. Her fingers looked and felt like prunes from the excessive scrubbing in the sinks to rid herself of the feeling of gloves and blood and she felt like passing out - she used way too much chakra. All three survived and when they regained consciousness they were greeted by the head of the Konoha police with handcuffs swinging around their fingers.

"Neh, Sakura, how're the men!" Naruto rounded from a corner dramatically in an attempt to scare her but it failed, she could see his orange pant leg from behind the corner.

"They'll live, but I'm not sure how they'll fair in prison." She smiled and he clapped his hands happily.

"That's great, I mean, they were criminals and could have seriously hurt someone! Anyways, I told you I'd treat you to ramen since you were working so hard! I bet you haven't even eaten."

"I had a granola bar earlier, and yes.." Her stomach growled. "I guess I am hungry."

"Hehe alright! Hope you don't mind, well I know you wont, but I invited Sasuke too! As team Kakashi get together, although I haven't seen that old man in a while.."

"Oh. That's.. Great. But don't you two have a mission together later?"

"Yeah, later. We have time to get a bowl of ramen and catch up with each other."

Well, Sakura already knew the big issues Sasuke had right now there wasn't much catching up to do between them, but for Naruto innocent sake, she'll pretend and she knows Sasuke will too.

They chatted as they walked down the streets together until they reached the ramen stand, Sasuke already standing there idly, looking off into the distance with his bag ready for the mission later on. It was awkward for Sakura walking up because judging by the surprised look on Sasuke face meant he didn't know Sakura was coming to their get together.

"You shoulda seen her Sasuke, she got these three guys all patched up after they blew up their entire apartment from experimenting with explosive tags! Crazy, amiright?" The three took seats beside each other inside of the stand with Sakura ending up in the middle of them respectively.

"I guess." He stated dryly as Naruto began to give Teuchi his order, lazily poking at the napkin holder.

Once all three gave their orders a tension filled the air. "So, what's been up with everyone?"

"Nothing really. I've been.. Picking up a lot of shifts at the hospital."

Slurping was the only sound heard.

"Okay, well, Sasuke! Did you know Sakura's gonna get pregnant?"

Both Sakura and Sasuke choked on their noodles, their angry stares beaming right into his now frightened eyes.

"Is that so?" Sasuke questioned, shifting his eyes over to an overly embarrassed Sakura.

"Yeah it's so! Can you believe it! She wont even tell me who it is!" Naruto whimpered to himself. "I'm suuuper curious."

"Naruto I already told you why I can't tell you. I'm legally not aloud to say a word." She noticed a small grimace find it's way to Sasuke's face as he looked back down to his bowl of noodles. "Besides it wont be interesting to you anyway."

"But there's gonna be a little Sakura walkin' around here and I wanna protect it, yenno?"

"I'm sure the child will have all the protection in the world, Naruto. But that is cute." She giggled as Naruto looked actually upset over this, but hey, it was such a sweet thing he wants to do. It gives her assurance that one day when she will have children of her own, that they will have someone strong looking after them.

"Eh." Naruto shrugged and leaned in to look at Sasuke. "By the way, asshole, how's my cousin? You treating her right?"

"She's fine." Sasuke stated.

Again silence fell over the three, Sakura and Sasuke awkwardly sitting there, quietly eating while Naruto slurped up his second bowl.

"NARRUUTTOOOOO!" A teenage boy's voice shattered their eardrums and send ripples down their spines.

_Yoink!_

Right off his head, Naruto's headband was snatched right from his head. "Ahh! Hey, you lil' shit Konohamaru! I need that, I have a mission soon!" Naruto screeched and felt around his head, making sure his headband was actually gone before leaping to his feet. "I'M GOING TO BE RIGHT BACK, SASUKE, SAKURA."

He left the two by themselves. Sakura was not pleasantly surprised when Sasuke leaned in toward her. "Why aren't you taking my money?" He growled lowly, his menacing black orbs staring deep into her own.

"S-Sasuke, I don't know what you're talking about.." Well, she was never good at playing dumb.

"Ms. Nao called Karin to tell her that you weren't accepting the money so don't play this stupid game with me. Why."

"Well I never intended to do this for money, Sasuke, and you're my friend, I'm definitely not going to take your money." She stated as sweetly as possible but Sasuke was never one for sweets.

"Can you even comprehend how much money you'd get if you just accepted it? I'm not going to let you just do this whole thing for _free_." His cautious eyes constantly darted back and forth from Sakura and the counter to make sure Teuchi couldn't hear what they were saying.

She scoffed. "Well that's too bad, Sasuke, we already signed the papers and I don't want your damn money! I don't accept money from friends. I'm sorry if it's going to make you feel worse about this situation but there's no way I'm taking your money."

"Why are you so damn stubborn." Sasuke sighed heavily to himself before pushing off the counter and stepping off the bar stool. "Tell Naruto I left because I forgot something at home." He picked up his bag at his feet and was gone in a flash, leaving her by herself at the ramen stand.

"Dammit Sasuke!" Se threw her napkin on the table and promptly left the stand angrily, storming off down the street to go back home and rest.

When Naruto returned with his headband fastened around his head, he saw that his friends had disappeared.

"Dammit Konohamaru!"

...

When Sakura returned home, she pushed her door open to find a thick, bulging blank envelope. "What's this?" She curiously questioned herself as she carefully knelt down beside the mysterious envelope that would have had to have been forced through the tiny slot in her front door. She picked it up in her hands noticed it had great weight to it, which was something curious on it's own.

She looked around before closing the door behind her and making her way over to her living room. She slumped against the couch and pried open the glued shut envelope. She slightly regretted it because when it was opened tons and tons of bills came pouring out all over her face and body. "Ack!" She wiped the bills off her face and her eyes turned a dangerous dark green.

"He. Did. Not." She wiped all of the bills onto the ground and began her quest.

She counted. And counted... And counter some more.

"He did. A whole lot of two million, seven hundred and forty six thousand, two hundred and eighty ryo worth of 'he did!'"

* * *

_Much bigger chapter for you guys, since the last one was pretty boring . Sorry about that. Thanks for the reviews! Keep em coming!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	8. Chapter 8

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 8-_

_rated for language / **adult themes**_

* * *

The days following Sasuke shoving money through her door slot went as normal as could be. She picked up some shifts at the hospital, casually went shopping with Haru and Ino, had a nice long chat with Lady Tsunade about what was happening (excluding the Sasuke and Karin part), and made sure she got the rest she needed before Tuesday morning. Sasuke's money still sat on the wooden end table beside her couch, sealed up again. She was still debating on what to do with it. Accept it because she knew Sasuke wouldn't stop sending it back and keep it as her rainy day fund, or fight back just as hard and keep on returning it?

She slipped it into her messenger bag anyways on her way to the clinic.

She thought Sasuke was the lucky one today. All he had to do was provide his sperm. She scoffed. She had so much more that had to be done today.

Sakura silently passed through the bustling crowds in the streets, all buying groceries, herbs, clothing items, ninja tools, and scrolls. She would get the occasional bump to her side from women who weren't watching where they were going and children that bounded through the crowd blindly. Finally, the sign over the clinic caught her attention and surprisingly she grew more nervous than ever before.

"Ms. Nao is ready for you in her office." The secretary never lifted her eyes off the computer and Sakura gave her a nod, leaving off down the hallway. Nervously, she tapped her fingers against the wooden door which slowly leaned open, revealing the face of the doctor before her.

"Ah! Sakura, you're here. I can bring you right to the laboratory." Ms. Nao stepped away from Sakura and into the hall, immediately making her way down the next turn and through the large glass automatic door. Everything was so pristine and white, clean as can be, surprisingly smelled lovely compared to the hospital's off brand cleaner, and looked completely unused. "We can start whenever you'd like."

"Shouldn't we wait for Sasuke?" Sakura questioned as she slowly placed her messenger bag onto a stainless steel rolling cart, still dazed and amazed at this place. Boy, the hospital could use some upgrades. "I mean we kind of need him as well."

"I had Sasuke come in a little earlier, actually. Here, you can sit here. Okay, I'll give you the run down on what's going to happen - and I know you probably already know but just to be certain you're comfortable with it I'm going to do it anyways. So it'll start with an injection of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin that has high levels of progesterone which will make the eggs grow and mature. We've carefully timed this so it has to be done rather soon. You will be sedated so you wont feel any pain, otherwise it will be incredibly uncomfortable - I trust you haven't eaten in eight hours?"

"No I haven't."

"Alright good. After that, a needle will be attached to an internal ultrasound probe which will then be inserted into the vagina. I'll be using the ultrasound to view the ovaries and locate the ovarian follicles. The needle will then puncture both follicle and will have a very gentle suction to remove the egg and the fluid within the follicle. Mrs. Hataya here, who is our local Embryologist will evaluate the fluid and the egg. Afterwards she'll then mix both parties, you'll wake up, go home, tell me if you have any symptoms of infection. Then in maybe six days you can come back and we will implant the zygote."

It all sounded rather disgusting to be quite honest, even if she was a doctor the talk of all these fluids sent a chill down her spine. "It sounds fine." Well she was going to be under, right?

"Good. Alright you can just lay down.."

Sakura carefully laid down against the grey pleather chair, fluorescent lights beaming down into her eyes causing immediate tears to well up. She watched cautiously as Ms. Nao held a plastic oxygen mask in between her dainty little fingers as she adjusted a valve behind the chair to Sakura's appropriate weight. "I'm going to give you the shot now." Ms. Nao announced as suddenly a small syringe with yellow liquid appeared before Sakura's very eyes. She dreadfully watched as she brought the needle into her flesh and pumped the HCG into her arm and she could feel the pressure immediately. When she was done Ms. Nao placed the small syringe onto a silver platter and brought up the face mask once more. "Now the anesthesia." Gently she pressed the mask so it covered Sakura's nose and mouth and in an instant the gas flooded her airways, within eight seconds she was out like a light.

...

"Mmmmm." Sakura groaned to herself gently as the drugs began to wear off, her brows furrowing and her brow had a slight trickle of sweat decorating it. All through her drugged induced sleep she hallucinated of the weirdest things, which as why she was having such a time waking up. It consisted of people she knew and people she only knew because their name was commonly passed around. The first half of her dream had giant yellow caterpillars slithering across the village rooftops then the next thing she knew she was meeting Sasuke's parents, which by the way, were made up from her own imagination. "Ughh." She groaned once more and felt the presence of a hand upon her shoulder.

"Sakura? The procedure went just as planned."

"Mmm. That's good." Her watery jade eyes were just slights, protecting her eye from the blaring lights above her. Luckily Ms. Nao's face covered half the lights. She took a quick breath in and looked around for a moment before slowly sitting up in the pleather chair, curiously glancing at the Embryologist who was standing at the opposite counter. "So the um, egg, has been fertilized...?"

"Yes."

Sakura snickered to herself. "I fertilized an egg with Sasuke."

"Clearly I gave you too much drugs." Ms Nao stated with an amused tone as she scribbled some things down onto her clipboard. "On that subject, I'm giving you a prescription for some antibiotics to keep infection away, and I advise you to take some regular pain killers. Once the drug is out of your system in probably half an hour you'll experience some cramping, much like menstrual cramping. Yes?"

"Yes, that's good."

With a playful roll of her eyes, Ms. Nao handed her a small piece of paper.

...

When she returned home she began to notice the cramping. She was a lucky girl, not ever having to experience these pains but now that she has them she wasn't a happy camper. It made her knees want to buckle, curl up into a fetal position on her ed, and cry tears of absolute sorrow but she did as her doctor said and rummaged through her medicine cabinet. She held a small light blue bottom in her hands and eyed it carefully making sure it was a low dosage. Satisfied, she popped two into her mouth and gulped it down with a small sip of water.

"If I'm going to be pregnant in six days I might as well have a drink or two before then." She wasn't a usual drinker. She was a social drinker and when she socially drank it wasn't much. So if she was going to be outed in her friend group for the next nine months then she wanted to have a couple drinks to ease the pain. So she pulled her messenger bag over her shoulder and left her house.

"Let's see here. Where do I want to have a few drinks." She asked herself as she roamed the evening time's bustle in the streets, lanterns were beginning to be lit, the scent of delicious foods were wafting through the streets, coaxing shoppers to spend a few bucks on dinner, and down the street there was an orange lit sign advertising happy hour. "And that is where I will be going." She announced to herself as her pace quickened through the thicket of people and toward the entrance of the bar.

She checked the place out before she settled on it. It was clean and the people weren't old and dirty gang members. _It sounds fine to me_. She clapped her hands together with a bright smile and took a seat at the bar, sitting her messenger bag on the counter in front of her. She didn't pay attention to the person who was seated to her right but when they faced her she let out a ridiculously angry sigh.

"How did I manage to run into you, _here_."

"I was here first." He stated wryly, tracing the rim of his cup with his thumb to pass time. He was never much of a drinker so she was surprised he was even here.

"Aren't you tired? You just got back from a mission - a mission with Naruto nonetheless, you should be exhausted."

Sasuke gave her a half shrug as he took the smallest sip from his drink. "They forced me to come here for a celebratory drink."

"Then where exactly are they?" Sakura glanced around the bar suspiciously. "I don't see any of them."

"They ran off about a minute ago most likely leaving me with the bill." He watched as she gave him a somewhat evil looking smirk and dug through her purse. She smacked something hard down onto the table. The envelope.

"Oh, they left you with the bill? No worries, you can pay for it easily." She stated as a 'matter-of-factly,' taking a big swig from her small glass in front of her. "Right, Sasuke?"

He placed his hand atop the envelope and slid it back over to her. "I can pay for it from _my own_ wallet, Sakura, I don't need your charity."

"It's not charity when it's your own money, Sasuke! Take it!" He still had his hand over the money and his angry eyes glared at her darkly.

"Don't you have bills to pay at home?"

"..Well, yes."

"And once you're heavily pregnant, I doubt the hospital will let you take shifts."

"I suppose so..."

"Then keep it to pay your bills, Sakura, that's what a surrogate's money is meant to go to."

"..." Sakura stayed quiet and took another sip of her drink, her eyes focused on ahead. "I guess you're right."

"Hmph." Sasuke smirked that infamous Uchiha smirk and took yet another tiny sip of his drink. He too looked straight ahead and she could only imagine what in the hell he was thinking about.

To aid the awkward quiet tension Sakura decided to pipe up. "Well it's done, for your information. And in six days it'll be 'officially' done."

"Hn. Did it hurt?"

They both still looked forward as if they were never exchanging words in the first place. "A little bit of cramping, nothing medication couldn't help with. So I've been wondering." She already regretted letting the words slip out of her mouth and immediately blamed it on the alcohol in her system. "What in Karin interested you. When I was formally introduced to her she didn't really seem like your type of woman."

Sasuke snorted which left Sakura completely flabbergasted. "Because she isn't." He took a small sip.

"So, what then?" She raised a delicate pink brow in his direction.

"It isn't that hard to figure out." She still stared at him for an answer. Hell, she was drinking, right? He could just go on and tell her because she wasn't going to remember any of it. "I knew she was most likely the only woman in all of the countries that didn't hate me, leaving her as the only option for a wife."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "There's still tons of women around the village that flock around you in the streets. I'm sure one or two of them would catch your eye."

"None of them are kunoichi, so no."

"Why do they have to be a kunoichi? Apart from the clan traits that would have been passed down to your child."

"Well if I'm away on a mission I could have some peace knowing they could protect our child."

"Oh, yeah, that makes sense." She nodded slowly, resting her hand son her interlaced fingers. Knowing Sasuke's background he would never let anything happen to his family, not ever. "You know Sasuke, for the record, I think you're going to be a good father and this just isn't coming out of a drunken stupor."

Before the dumbfounded Sasuke could even think up a reply, Naruto and a good handful of the friendly ninja that were celebrating their mission threw themselves through the door and crowded around the bar. As they all ordered whatever drinks they desired, Sakura slipped through the crowd silently and without letting Naruto get a peek of her face. Sasuke's eyes darted through the crowd of people to the chair next of him but saw a chubby ninja took the seat and slid her glass away to the side. He groaned to himself when Naruto threw an arm around his shoulder.

When Sakura finally arrived home a little later due to having to stop and chat with Hinata, she let her coat and bag drop to the floor before collapsing onto her bed.

* * *

_SO CLOSE! They're almost there to have a little baby inside of Sakura! :) Thanks for the reviews! As for length, wit this story I was trying to go with minimalist to keep my attention on it. With my other stories I had the chapters absolutely so dense and long it was killing me to write chapters. So when I write short chapters like this it keeps me wanting to go + I can update quickly. Sorry if that's bugging you guys. _

_Also if there's something you guys want to see you can tell me and I can try and work it in if it doesn't clash with the major things. :) Keep reviewing + thanks for the follows/faves. _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	9. Chapter 9

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 9-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Once again she was alone. Alone and somewhat scared while the bright lights caused tears to rise and fall down her flustered cheeks. She could see Ms. Nao's friendly face give her a small smile and her soothing voice echoed through the white room. She couldn't quite comprehend what it was exactly she said but she could only guess it was something along the lines of 'it was a success Sakura!' The pinkette gently nodded and licked her lips, was it normal that her vision was hazy and her skull was pounding?

Ms. Nao helped her sit up in the pleather chair and her face was still screwed into a confused look. "I don't feel too good." She announced to the woman, gripping her right arm with her left hand lightly. "My head hurts..so bad."

"That's normal Sakura. It's most likely the drugs and hormones - they're going nuts right now I imagine." Ms. Nao chuckled lightly and helped Sakura out of the chair and stabilize her stance. She began to speak but it all blurred out in Sakura's mind. She nodded to the way Ms. Nao's lips moved and prayed she wouldn't say anything against it.

"You know Ms. Nao, I don't know if I can make it home in this state. I just feel way too sick and dizzy.."

"...That's what I was just saying Sakura, I've asked Sasuke to return you home. I would never let you go home alone in this condition."

Sakura pursed her lips and looked to her right, only to catch the ink black eyes of Sasuke leaning against the wall in the hallway connecting to the lab.

...

He was escorted down the hall from the secretary and that's when he first laid eyes on her that day, lying on the grey medical chair within the sealed laboratory, dazed and alone. Sakura looked so confused and not in a very good mental state, as she was looking around with confused emerald eyes and furrowed pink brows. He felt almost bad for her because she was all alone in there but he knew it was in his best place to stay right there and wait for her to escort her back home. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest, continuing to stare into the room.

It was done. They finished implanting the zygote only half an hour ago and claimed it was a success. She gave a due date to him when she visited him in the waiting room fifteen minutes earlier. September tenth would be the estimated day Sakura would go into labor with their child. He shuddered inwardly to himself at the mere thought that this was actually going to happen, rather then meetings after meetings after meetings. Karin was invited to show up to the meeting today but since it wasn't a 'mandatory' meeting then she'd rather stay at home and read. He probably would have taken up a mission or something but when he was asked to escort Sakura back home he couldn't argue.

So there he was, looking upon Sakura's soft face as she was helped to the door, clutching her bag tightly in her hand. Ms. Nao quickly shuffled over to him with a brown paper bag clutched in her own hand. "Can you explain these vitamins to Sakura when she can actually understand what you're talking about? Just read the instructions to her."

"Can't _she_ just read the instructions though?" Ms. Nao began to walk away. "And how long will it take for her to get back to normal?" She was out of sight. He looked back to Sakura who just stared at him with those big green eyes. He sighed to himself. "Come one Sakura, I'm taking you back home."

They started out the front door and Sakura was already looking like she might just faint. _Damn Ms. Nao, giving her too much drugs_. "Come on." Sasuke instructed her very sternly, casually taking her arm with his and carefully leading her through the streets, his eyes making sure no one of particular interest caught them leaving the clinic together. He could feel Sakura clasp her right hand over his bicep and slightly lean into his arm, her eyelids begging to droop down into sleep.

"Hey Sasu- why is Sakura on your arm?" Naruto's famous 'spirit-lifting' voice shattered through his left ear drum as he head of blonde hair filled his vision. "Somethin' wrong?"

"..She wasn't feeling too well so I'm bringing her back home." Sasuke stated and tried his best to quicken his pace and ditch the guy but he was so damned persistent.

Naruto calmly walked along Sasuke's left side. "Where was she? What was she doing before? She looks drunk to me."

"If I just said she wasn't feeling well it means she isn't drunk, dumbass." Sasuke continued to quickly pass through the crowds and watched as the blonde got pulled away by the mass of bodies. He smirked and looked down to his right where Sakura was watching the faces go by with a sick look in her eyes. "We're almost to your apartment."

She nodded slowly to him with a small smile. They continued through the crowds of people, narrowing avoiding her pesky little friends and found their way in front of her house. "Do you have the key?"

"Yeah.." She slowly walked over to the front door and shoved her hand into the side pocket of her messenger bag where she usually kept her key ring and fished it out. She inspected the key ring to find the one with the small blue rubber top and inserted it into the golden colored lock. She swung the door open and quietly made her way in. Sasuke awkwardly paced in after her and shut the door behind him, watching suspiciously as she sat on the couch with her eyes glued to the popcorn ceiling.

"How are you feeling?" He took a seat in an antique looking chair that barely fit him but he remained seated. He watched her shrug. "Good enough to understand what I'm about to tell you?"

She shook her head instantly and he pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to be a long day.

While she was still completely enamored with the ceiling Sasuke dove his hand into the paper bag he held in his left hand, peering at the first bottle he pulled out. It read in a white label '_Folic Acid Tablets_' and since he had nothing better to do, he was going to read the small description. Blah blah blah, to help prevent Neural Tube Defects. Daily she would take one tablet for the next twelve weeks and combine it with leafy green foods for insurance. He gulped. He didn't even know these things existed, let alone pills for prevention. _With added Omega-3 fatty acid and Docasahexaenoic Acid_. He had absolutely no ideas what those were and to his surprise he found a small leaflet that came alongside the bottle. He held the entire thing open before his astounded black eyes and scanned over the tons of tiny little letters. '_Added as a complementary softgel pill in attached package_.' He peeked inside the bag and saw the small cardboard package they were talking about. '_To support neural development, the omega-3 fatty acids are used by both mother and fetus to create Phospholipid Bilayer that makes up the cell membrane.'_

Sasuke felt rather dumb since all of these words had no meaning to them for him yet he continued to randomly skim the words. '_Prenatal vitamins are vitamin and mineral supplements intended to be taken before and during pregnancy and during postnatal lactation. To provide women within child bearing age with nutrients recognized by the Konoha health association_.' He scrunched up his face and folded the leaflet back to it's regular position. He never thought pregnancy could be so intricate. To him pregnancy was just waiting nine months and pushing a child out, not having to worry about these birth defects that could happen to any one and all of these medications.

It partially scared him.

"What are you reading about Sasuke?" Her soft voice lulled from the other side of the room and he glanced at her, feeling like he was looking at her with new eyes. If she was willing to do something like this, even if the child could have something wrong with it or could even kill her during childbirth then that only showed him how strong of a woman she was.

He tapped the box idly, not wanting to seem jittered like he currently felt. "The vitamins and what they prevent.. I didn't know so many things could go wrong with a baby."

"Oh Sasuke you have no idea." She exasperated with glossy eyes and he thought maybe he hit a touchy subject. "I deal with so many women in the hospital who's babies are born with deformities or defects, ranging from mild to extreme cases."

"...How bad can it get?" He didn't want her to notice the slight waver in his voice but fear washed over his entire being at the thought of his child born with a defect.

"Well. A mild case could be something like a structural birth defect. Like a clubbed foot, it looks to be rotated toward the ankle and it's relatively common - about one in one thousands births. Luckily this is something you can fix over time with braces and surgery. In my opinion that's a mild case because it can be fixed, unlike something that went wrong with the brain in the womb. There can be sensory problems, which could be classified in the middle of mild and extreme. Born without eyesight or born deaf. Then there's extreme cases. Like Amencephaly. It's the absence of the most part of the brain, skull and scalp, caused from a neural tube defects. They never live, at least from what I've read. Then there's something like Down Syndrome which is one of things you just can't avoid, it even ranges itself from mild to extreme cases."

"Is there.. Anything we can do to not have a child with birth defects?" He was absolutely stunned. He wouldn't know what to do if that happened to him. Hell, he barely even knew what to do with a healthy born child. "Except these vitamins."

"Well for a mother a lot of things could cause birth defects and even miscarriage. There's the use of prescription drugs, illegal drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, even the idle smoke off the cigarettes in the street, chemotherapy, and radiation. If a man is exposed to such thing it will only decrease his sperm count. And don't worry, I've done no drugs nor smoked any cigarettes in my life." She smiled even though the mood was lowered exponentially.

"What about when babies die in the womb."

"Stillborn babies. It can be from a baby simply not growing enough in the womb which is something we cannot help, a defect with the baby's heart or brain, infections, and if the mom gets ill during pregnancy. The list goes on. The hard part is when I get women into the hospital that still have to give birth to their dead child."

"Wait. What?" His head snapped up to catch her passionate looking eyes. She nodded to him.

"If it's passed the point where the baby is too big to dissolve back in the mother then she will have to give birth to the baby, whether it is alive or not. It's a horrible procedure for both mother and doctor to endure."

He shook his head angrily and sat in that chair to wallow in his own anger until another point hit him. "What about when the mother dies, during childbirth." What causes that?"

"There are many ways, like Abrupto Placenta, where the placenta tears away from the uterine lining and would cause the mother to hemorrhage to death. There's Eclampsia that would give the mom tonic-clonic seizures which would prove fatal."

"Aren't you scared then?" Even the thought of Sakura dying from giving birth to their child horrified him to no extent.

"Are you?"

He looked up at her and she had a complete serious face and it sent shivers down his spine. Could she see it in his eyes? He always secretly prided himself with his facades that led people to believe whatever it is he wanted. Maybe his over use of questions gave it away, or maybe he was showing emotions he never intended to. But he had to be honest, he was terrified. "Yes I am."

"Sasuke, look at me." He glanced back up and their eyes locked once more. "With these vitamins included, I will do my very best to ensure that your child will be born safely and healthy." He could see the honesty and truth in her eyes and it gave him some sort of insurance that his baby will be safe within her.

He promptly stood up and tossed the vitamin bottle to her, where she caught it gracefully in her hands. "Take one daily for twelve weeks." He told her with a still wavering voice and turned down the hallway to leave her house with a heavy heart.

Sakura sat there alone yet again but with a feeling of contentment, that somehow she managed to get a reaction out of the infamous emotionless Uchiha.

When Sasuke returned home he was still in a depressed mindset. He physically felt like he was being pulled down and still slightly mortified at what was revealed to him. He could hear rapid footsteps and was hit hard when Karin through herself into his arms energetically.

"Oh Sasuke! You've finally returned to me!" She cried out happily with a big grimace upon her face. She began to place many kisses upon his face until he pushed her off of him.

"I'm not in the mood Karin. Get off." He kicked his sandals off his feet and trudged his way down the hallway to his bedroom.

Leaving Karin alone and confused in the front entrance to the house.

* * *

_I don't want to sound conceited but I loved this chapter ;o; I imagined it really emotional and intimate but I'm not sure how I conveyed that. I listened to the song 'Wild Tigers I Have Known' by Emily Jane White. It definitely set the mood so if you want to re-read, listen to what I listened you should give it a try. :) Tell me, was this chapter okay? Or was it too much medical dialog blah blah blah?_

_I'm actually NOT a Medical/Science student hehe. I just research A LOT OF STUFF let me tell you! I get scared whenever my mom walks by and I'm on a webpage about prenatal vitamins, thinking I'm pregnant or something heheheh. I spend a lot of time researching what I want exactly to happen._

_Thanks so much for the reviews/follows/faves. They mean a lot and I absolutely enjoy your feedback ! :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own NARUTO _


	10. Chapter 10

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 10-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

When Sasuke stormed off down the hallway and left her with the open door and the chilly breeze hugging her neck, Karin was left dumbfounded. She had never seen Sasuke in such a foul mood in their marriage, apart from moment when he would return from a failed mission and they lost a comrade on the field. But never sometime when it wasn't involving work. She closed the front door and rubbed her arms, unsure of what was unfolding before her. She knew Sasuke had left for the meeting with Ms. Nao earlier for the official implantation of the zygote into Sakura's uterus, but what would have left him in such a state?

She knew he didn't like how nosy she was so this time she would be ten times as nosy as she usually was just to get what she wanted from him. "Heh.. He's gonna end up telling me one way or another - even if I have to resort to using my sexy charm to get my way!" She trudged down the hallway and carefully slid open the shoji to their bedroom and peered inside with her curious crimson eyes. Their bed was empty, but their door leading to the backyard was left opened and she could see his knee.

Karin slid through the crack in the shoji and had one leg out the other when she noticed Sasuke was sitting cross-legged on the wooden walkway leaning against a large wooden pillar, his eyes were led astray by a small little Turtle-Dove that landed on the stone birdbath. He looked so calm yet she could see the look on his face and something was on his mind that wasn't her, and that wasn't acceptable, even if it was something that was hurting him.

So she, taking it upon herself to get that dear attention back, took a seat on his lap and forced his face forward. Usually she wasn't this desperate to have him look at her but truly she did want to know what was on his mind. "What's wrong." She held his face within her hands and cocked her head to the side. His brows met in the middle with the anger she always associated him with and slightly wanted to draw away but she wouldn't get anywhere with taking a step back.

"I told you earlier to get off of me. What part of that don't you understand." Sasuke bit out coldly, his piercing gaze hard to look at but Sasuke liked a woman that wouldn't back down, something that gave him a fight. She wasn't sure if this was the type of fight but she pressed on.

"Just tell me what's wrong and maybe I'll get off, Sasuke~" She chimed gingerly with a broad grin on her face, wrapping her arms around his neck and drawing in closer to him. "I want to know what's bugging you."

"You're 'bugging' me, now get off." He placed his hands on her hips and for a moment she thought she was getting somewhere until she felt his hands gently but not-so-gently force her off his lap and onto the light colored wooden slabs. She puffed out her cheeks angrily.

"Well then you're bugging me!" She screeched loudly while she crossed her arms over her chest, causing the pretty little bird to be alerted of their presence and dive away from the possible threat. "You go for basically our last meeting and you come back as such an ass! What the hell happened there?! Did it not work?"

He scoffed. "You'd know if you took the time to leave the house and go to the meeting."

"Just tell me! I signed those papers too!" She exclaimed and lightly pressed his shoulder with the palm of her hand, wanting to grab his attention again.

"You're not good for anything, Karin." Sasuke stated, his eyes were once again back into the garden focused on God knows what.

Any interest to pry the information from him dissolved as quickly as ever as she immediately stood up, everything burning within her angrily, her fists clenched and her face scrunched out. "Screw you!" She stated as loud as ever to scare away any wildlife from their garden and stormed back through the shoji, slamming it as hard as she could just to piss him off further. "How could he say such a thing to me?!" Steam was almost coming out of her ears she was so incredibly mad, her fists were now shaking with pent up anger that just begged to punch him square in the face. "I'm good for.. For so many things!" When she failed to think of any good ones she flopped onto the couch and dug her fingernails into the fabric roughly. The only one that came to mind was along the lines of 'great at sex,' but that was one she couldn't bring up in a fight.

...

Sasuke partially felt bad for what he said. What he said was true, all of it. He didn't mean to compare to her Sakura, but upon hearing Sakura's extensive knowledge on medical conditions roll right off her tongue it was hard to find something good in Karin. Karin never even wanted to leave the house, let alone pick up many long hours at the hospital, or at least he was basing it off of what Naruto had told him, and is one of the best Medical nins in all of the lands. When there were women out there that are strong and capable and in control of their own lives it just made him so incredibly bored with the life he was currently living with Karin.

She technically didn't deserve what he said to her but he hoped it would be a wake up call to get her life in order. Maybe start taking missions again, or take a little step into having a social life and make some friends. Hell, he didn't even like talking to people but he had a better social life than her.

Instead of running after her like he knew she wanted he continued to peacefully sit outside of his home, still thinking about the horrid images and ideas Sakura unintentionally put in his head.

_Alright_, he told himself, _if nature is peaceful at this moment then I will take after it_.

He decided against dwelling upon the bad energy and focused on the good. Instead of having a baby that had every single birth defect Sakura listed like he was picturing earlier that also emotionally scarred him, they would have a perfectly healthy little baby in their arms. It would have the average weight for a newborn baby and was of adequate size. He closed his eyes peacefully at this point. There was no doubt that his child would have his color hair because there was no way in hell an Uchiha would come out with pink hair, whether it was a girl or not. So there he imagined his little baby that was perfectly healthy and had his dark hair, but the eyes he was somewhat torn about. Uchiha's were known for their usually black eyes, and if they weren't black they were a dark brown, they weren't well known for producing children that had bright green eyes. That wasn't the part he was torn about, it was mostly the fact that he _wanted_ the green eyes. They were eyes that were refreshing to look in to, not resembling pieces of coal in any way, and that was somewhat appealing to him. Eyes that color were somewhat hard to come by, at least the shade he liked which just so happened to be the shade Sakura donned and he found himself lucky that it was her bearing his child because he wouldn't know what do do if his children came out with crimson pupil missing eyes.

That's how he liked to imagine how his child, no matter the gender, would come out. But knowing how his luck always played out, he would be handed a son with tresses of bright pink hair and hard black eyes. He shuddered and prayed for a brood of dark haired children in the future.

That was it. That was all he prayed for. He wanted his child to be healthy and strong and take after his elite skills and it's mothers mind-blowing strength and that was all he wanted. _Perfect vision, perfect hearing, no messed up chromosomes, dark hair, no clubbed feet, Sharingan, skull shattering punching powers, green eyes_.

He smirked to himself because he knew his child was going to come out strong.

...

"Sakura! How aaare youuu?" Ino cried loudly as she burst through the front door as part of her well known entrances with bags clutched in both hands. She smirked when she saw her best friend sitting on the couch reading a book all by herself. "I can't believe it! You know to be honest with you, I thought I'd be the first to be knocked up out of the two of us." She snickered and bounded over to the couch and dropped the bags at her and Sakura's feet.

"I wasn't 'knocked up' Ino, that's a derogatory term used when you accidental get pregnant." Sakura calmly told her as she folded the corner of the age she was on and closed the book, setting it down on the end table and tried to get a glimpse of what were in the bags. "What are in the bags?"

Ino dropped to the floor dramatically and picked up a bag, flipping it upside down to reveal it's contents. "Ino!" Sakura immediately began to reprimand. "I'm not keeping the baby, you know that!"

On the floor in a big heap were many articles of baby clothes. Ino sighed heavily. "I know Sakura. But baby clothes are so cute, you can just give them to the couple afterwards, okay?" She beamed brightly and picked up a small onsie. "Look, it has cute little sheep on it! Oh oh oh, and look at this one! You can't not love these little baby chicks on it!"

Sakura admitted Ino was relatively good at picking out clothing and when it came to baby clothes she was excellent. It gave her assurance her future children will be well dressed. She scooted onto the floor beside Ino and picked one up. It was a tiny light pink dress with a small picture of a light green butterfly on the front. "This is cute." When she held the little dress in the palms of her hands she could only imagine holding a baby this small in her own hands.

"It made me thing of you because it's the same shade of your hair and your eyes!" Ino giggled and dug through the enormous pile and pulled another one out. "And this one is so cute for a little boy but it kind makes me think of Sasuke..!"

Sakura peered over to her then to the little onsie in her hands. It was blue with red and white accents. "Why-"

"You know he makes me so curious! You'd think he'd be the first of our year to have children, well, planned children at least. I mean he's been married for three years! Wouldn't he want to get on that while he was still young? So weird!"

"Well it's not like we ever see Karin around, so who knows what's she's up to. She could be pregnant for all we know." Even though Ino had the biggest mouth apart from Naruto, Sakura wished she could just tell her to see her shocked reaction. Boy, that would lift any horrid mood she was in.

Ino shrugged and pulled out a tea drink from out of no where. It was quite mysterious. "I don't know Sakura. She's a weird one too, that one. There's much better females around here that he could have easily gotten. Even weirder that her and Naruto are cousins, wouldn't Sasuke not want his children related to Naruto in any way, shape, or form? Oh look at this one too, this was my first pick." She showed Sakura a cute little bedtime onsie that made the child look like a cute little yellow bunny. Sakura didn't know what Sasuke would think, bringing all these girly looking clothes to him. He'd never dress his children like that.

"You told me earlier that you were working. What happened to that?" Sakura glanced at the time and noticed Ino's break ended in seven minutes.

"Yeah - hold on I still have stuff to show you." Ino grabbed the other bags and hauled them off to the kitchen. "You stay there because you can't touch these 'till the cravings start. All of my friends that had babies, even my mom told me what her cravings were so I got you everything they said! Here's the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever eaten, seriously, they're crammed with chocolate! Don't touch." She shoved the box into the pantry. "Then I have chocolate ice cream which I know is your favorite flavor, no touchy!" She wagged her finger in Sakura's direction and shoved it into the freezer. "Pickles for some reason, I don't know why." She pulled out a massive jar of picked and slid it into the fridge. "Tons of potato chips.." She picked three bags of said foods and tossed them into the pantry as well. "Carbonated soda helps with dizziness apparently, so I got you a lot of that and then Bacon." She shoved the rest into the fridge and looked at Sakura with an accomplished face. "What do you think? I think I've fully stocked you if I do say so myself."

Sakura smiled sweetly and took to her feet. "Ino, thank you so much." She paced over to her and gave her friend a well deserved hug, a real one at that. "It's good to know you'll always have my back."

"Aww, always, billboard brow." Ino snickered and held her tightly. "But I've gotta run back to the pharmacy, my shift starts soon. Good to know everything was a success!"

"Go ahead Ino Pig." She smiled and watched as Ino ran out the door with her tea drink in hand. Even after all these years of horrible fighting her and Ino were still Best Friends like in their youth. She turned back around to come face to face with the lump of baby clothes. "Jeez.." She groaned to herself as she dropped to her knees and began folding them and placing them into the bottom of the bag. "I can't have these in my house, I'll fall in love with them!"

Hesitantly she folded the little pink dress last and stood up with it in hand. She knew she already saw Sasuke today and he probably already got his fill of Sakura for one day but she needed to go buy groceries anyways and wanted these clothes out of the house. She pulled the yellow brush through her straight pink hair before pulling her sandals on and leaving out the front door of her house.

She was in a much better head space now that the drugs had worn off from earlier. She'd taken her pill after Sasuke left because she could see in his eyes how much her taking that pill was important to him, and she knew if she delivered a baby that had a birth defect she'd be a goner. She locked her front door and left into the street, turning left to begin making her way to the supermarket.

She bought eggs, tofu, udon noodles, lots of umeboshi, dumplings, and red bean paste. When she payed she looked down to the bag of baby clothes she held and sighed. She really didn't want to intrude on Sasuke's home life but she did not want these clothes and Ino would be brokenhearted if she returned them. So instead of going back down the main street she turned off a small road that lead directly to the Uchiha district.

It was eerie to be walking through this abandoned district since all of the streets were busy at this time of day but here you could hear a pin drop. She could understand why Sasuke felt so lonely in their younger years when he was the only soul in this expansive place. She walked for a few more minutes before finding the large Uchiha abode. It almost seemed too big for just him and Karin, but Sakura reassured herself by saying it wouldn't be too small when you have a wild child running around filling the place with laughter.

She stepped up to the front door and lightly knocked three times. She stood their awkwardly waiting until she realized there was no one coming to the door. "But Karin does nothing but stay home.." She was puzzled and hoped to God they weren't doing something she could interrupt. She contemplated leaving the large bag outside the front door but the weather in Konoha was on and off in January so she didn't want them to get damaged. She stepped into the gravel beside the walkway of the house and carefully slunk around the corner, not wanting to make a sound but these damned grocery bags sure were loud. She continued to sneak passed the side of the house until her feet hit the soft green grass of the backyard.

She stood there in shock. She never knew Sasuke had such a beautiful backyard! _And so expansive too_! It was a massive plot of land with tall beige walls keeping the outside world out with the Uchiha crest embedded into every panel. In the back of the yard was a large willow tree that cast a large shadow onto the grass, making shelter for anybody or animal that was too hot to sit out in the heat. There were empty flower beds that were anxiously awaiting spring time to roll around so let the flowers bud out. In the middle of the yard was an old, pretty and beautifully decorated bird bath with a small green vine wrapping it's way around the column. Sitting in that bird bath was a young Japanese Turtle-Dove.

"Sakura?" A voice snapped her out of her shock and her head snapped to the side, where Sasuke was currently sitting cross legged and leaning against a wooden pillar that held up the second floors large balcony. "What are you doing here?"

"Erm, I'm sorry Sasuke, to intrude an all. You have a beautiful backyard! Do you take care of it?" She questioned as she took a few step closer to him, her eyes watching the little bird dip its feathers into the crystal water.

He looked somewhat offended that she'd ever think he was taking care of a garden. "No. Karin does."

"Oh..." Sakura looked down at him for a moment before totally remembered why she came in the first place. "Ino came to visit me earlier and for some reason thought it was a good idea to buy me these baby clothes. I don't need them so I was wondering if you would take them. Less clothes for you to buy I suppose." She smiled and set the bag down in front of him.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment with calm eyes. "Thanks."

She nodded and took a small step back. "Well I've gotta get going to get dinner ready. I'll see you later." She calmly waved him goodbye and rounded the corner to get back home. He gave her a small little wave which he knew she didn't see.

Sasuke cocked his head when he stared down at the large bag in front of him that housed the tons of clothes he could guess on his own Ino was responsible for. He had to be honest, he was going to leave Karin to get clothes because if there was one thing he was going to be bad at it was picking out children clothes.

He wrapped his fingers around the plastic handles of the bag and dragged it closer to him. He was curious as to what his child may or may not be wearing. He slowly dropped his fingers into the bag and pulled out the first article of clothing he grabbed. He pulled out a tiny little light pink dress with a little green butterfly in the middle.

He was a very prideful person and when he set eyes on this little dress he somewhat hope for a little daughter, but he'd never admit to himself it was because this dress heavily reminded him of Sakura.

* * *

_Wow so cheesy I can't believe I wrote that. D: And this chapter I think is the longest I've written with about 3522 words, holla! Aren't you guys surprised Karin actually does something around the lot that isn't being all whiny and annoying? OH and by the way, the 2 million whatever amount of money Sasuke gave Sakura was only in Ryo, I remember reading one review where they said it was a lot. I did conversions to get that amount, so in Canadian Dollar it's $30,000. Just making sure you guys weren't thinking he was flipping his pockets out for Sakura haha. _

_Thanks a lot of the ongoing reviews and follows and faves! I love em! Keep em coming! I can't wait till it hits fifty C: _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	11. Chapter 11

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 11-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

"Eeeeeee!" Squealed an overly excited Haru, clutching a little box in her hands while she charged into Sakura's office. She'd been asked by Sakura herself to retrieve a pregnancy test from the storage room and to return it to her immediately. "It's time Sakura, I got it!" She announced and slammed the tiny box onto the desk in front of Sakura's very own eyes. "It's time it's time its time!"

"Yeah I know Haru, I've been waiting two weeks for this moment!" Sakura herself was inwardly ecstatic for the little plastic test to give her the double line. She pried open the box and pulled out the little rectangular test. "And it was a long two weeks."

"You haven't gone pee yet, right? They say it's best you do your test with your first morning pee!"

"Yes yes Haru, that's why I told you to hurry!" She exclaimed and made her way over to the door with a large smile. "I'll be right back!" Haru waved her off and right then, Sakura began jogging down the hallway carefully even though it was against regulation to run, but her bladder would explode everywhere if she did nothing about it. She pressed her key card to the small scanner outside the female staff washroom and pushed the door open, revealing the beautifully clean washroom that she liked to think belonged to her.

When she was done her business she popped the test into her lab coat pocket, washed her hands, and promptly left back to her office, not wanting Haru to get in trouble for being in her room with her. "Okay I'm back." She stated and walked over to the small counter with a sink and carefully placed the test onto the granite and threw herself into her rolling chair. She nervously combed through her hair with her fingers before eventually tying it back.

"Sakura you seem jittered. You already know you're pregnant, this is just confirmation!"

"Yeah I know, I'm just worried that it didn't work. What if my uterus thinks it's a virus and kills it..."

"Oh shut it - and you've already worked out your blood types, right? So the thing where if you had a negative blood type and the baby has a positive blood type thingy wont happen! It'll be fine." Haru pet Sakura's hand which was placed atop the desk. "If it didn't work then who cares, you do all that implanting again."

"Ugh." Sakura sighed and nervously tapped the desk, her eyes occasionally glancing over at the small test. She wondered what Sasuke would say if this ended up not working. He wouldn't want to go through with having to provide his DNA again, she could only imagine how embarrassed he was during that process. But then again he'd never let his bloodline die out - so would he remarry? He'd absolutely have to! After what he told her that night in the bar, which yes she totally remembered, he only married her on a whim. It was Karin on one hand then a real family on the other.

"Sakura hurry up and check the test! I have to get back to work!"

"Well here goes nothing." Sakura stood up and snatched the test within her fingers. "I'm going to set it on the table and we will look at it together, okay"

Haru furiously nodded her head. "Yes!"

"Alright." Sakura sucked in a breath and dropped the little test onto the desk then leaned in, almost booping heads with Haru. Two red lines meant pregnant, and one line meant not pregnant, and when she glanced at the stick, Sakura smirked. "I should have known it all along. I'm so stupid."

"Oh Sakura!" Haru's glistening blue eyes seemed to don a small little tear in the corners. "You're preggers! It's a shame you can't keep it, but hey, you can pretend for nine months, right?"

Sakura chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I could. I don't want to fall in love with it though. Imagine me falling in love with this baby then having the Doctors pulling it right from me and handing it over to the couple. I would be devastated. That's why I've got to stay professional."

"You want babies of your own right?"

"HARU! GET YOUR BUTT BACK DOWN HERE! YOU CAN'T KEEP LEAVING KAZUKI IN CHARGE!" A Doctor hollered through Sakura's door at the top of his lungs with a guilty looking young man's collar clutched in his left hand. "He doesn't even know how to transfer calls!"

"Ack, sorry sorry!" Haru cried out playfully as she slid right out of the chair and back towards the door. "Catch you later Sakura!" She gave the girl a wink before being pulled back down the hall by the Doctor.

"Silly girl." Sakura snickered to herself before picking up her white phone from it's cradle and begin to dial a familiar number. "Hello? Hello Ms. Nao! I just called to tell you I took the test... Yes! Two lines and I'm pregnant! Yep, about a month along in a week. Mmhm. Yes I've been taking them daily. No, I feel fine but I'm sure I'm going to regret saying that. Yes. Alright I'll talk to you later! Alright thanks! Buh-bye."

After many hours of waiting, hours of document signing, countless hours of stressing about the baby's daddy, she could finally say she was pregnant.

The next day; however, was another way of saying she was pregnant.

She thought she still had at least maybe two weeks before she started feeling the absolutely dreaded nausea but yet she was greeted with her tummy turnin' that morning. Before she got up and allowed whatever in her stomach to make it's way upwards, she carefully slunk her hand through the covers and snatched her cellular phone, something she only used on occasion and emergency and today was an emergency.

"Hey, Haru? Can you let Doctor Obuchi know that I cannot make it in on time today? I may have to miss my morning appointments and one surgery I had planned for ten twenty five with Ms. Endo. If he's free he'd be the preferable one to preform it. He can get the information from you when you tell him please and thanks. Bye, yes I will, bye."

Sakura tossed the phone to the empty side of her bed and laid there cautiously. She knew if she moved her torso it would churn her stomach and would send her flying over to the bathroom. So she stayed in bed for just a little bit longer, hoping it would just disperse and she could continue on with her day.

...

Meanwhile, Sasuke was called into Ms. Nao's office. He arrived about ten minutes after she called in him with a slight knot growing in his stomach filled with worry. Had something gone awry with Sakura's pregnancy? He didn't even stop at the secretary desk and headed straight for her office with a demanding look in his eyes.

"Ah, Sasuke, that was quick." Ms. Nao stated as she looked up from her desk. "I would have asked Karin to do this instead but to be quite honest she doesn't seem all that friendly toward Sakura."

Sasuke shrugged and seemed to calm down a little bit since he was expecting Ms. Nao to announce that Sakura died mysteriously from the pregnancy. "What did you call me here for?" He watched as Ms. Nao placed a small brown paper bag upon her desk and motioned toward it.

"Sakura requested these new vitamins and I was wondering if you could deliver them to her."

He looked at her with a puzzled and angry expression to go along with his furrowed brows. "You called me in to deliver something to Sakura when you could have just called her so she could pick it up herself? I have better things to do!"

"Obviously you don't, you got here pretty quick, didn't you?" Ms. Nao smirked and pointed her index finger to the paper bag. "Sakura needs these right now, or else the pregnancy will suffer!" She'd heard how stubborn this Uchiha was and she had no time to fight with him, so if she bent the truth a little bit it wouldn't hurt him, in fact, it would benefit his child.

He looked startled and snatched the bag from the desk. "She's working at the hospital right now, I believe." She was pleasantly pleased with herself when she watched as Sasuke dashed out of the clinic.

_This is what Sakura was talking about_! He told himself as he frantically left the clinic, darting off in the direction of the hospital, unaware that his old team sensei watched with a curious eye. _This is exactly what she was talking about! Neural... Neural something_.. "Damn it! How long does it take to get to the hospital?!" He cursed to himself silently as he pushed and jumped his way through the streets and rooftops, his eyes spotting the large white building off in the distance, looking ten times as far away than it really was.

He bounded through the rooftops and landed in front of the emergency double doors with the brown paper bag still furiously clutched in his fingers. He stomped through the doors and his inky eyes searched every possible crevice of the place Sakura would call her second home before he sucked up his pride and stopped a nurse.

"Where's Sakura?" He demanded, scaring the poor young women, witnessing her shaking in her blue scrubs.

"Ehmm.. I-I think she called i-in sick today.. I'm n-not sure why t-though.." Her already startled chocolate brown eyes witnessed a poof of smoke and the man was gone.

_This is what Ms. Nao must be talking about! She's sick_! His heart was racing a thousand miles a minute and he could feel millions of tingles in his face which was the blood leaving his face completely. His eyes were big and furious and the next thing he wanted to see was Sakura's apartment. _The baby is going to die_! He soared through the air with ill thoughts racing through his head, the image of Sakura passed out while their baby died sent a terrible feeling of dread and anger shoot through his body that he hadn't felt in years. He'd been forced to talk with a 'therapist' for the first two years back in Konoha during the full duration his chakra was bound by the Hokage. He never felt as hopeless as he did back then as he did now.

He threw himself at her door and tried the doorknob but to no avail, she kept it locked tight. _The baby is dying right now and I'm separated by a damned door_! He growled and reached over to her side window, managing to push it wide open to crawl in through. He peered around her living room and spotted no Sakura, then quickly paced over into the kitchen to find no Sakura. _Bedroom! _

He wrapped his hand around the doorknob and threw open the door, revealing an empty but unmade bed, which was surprising since he knew for a fact Sakura kept her house tidy.

"Eeek!" He heard her in her en suite bathroom and he only figured the worst was happening in there.

"S-Sakura...!" The door was open so with a burst of 'I need to get in there and help her', he showed his face and was immediately punched square in the nose. He promptly fell back in a daze, landing on her carpeted floor with his back against the side of her bed, his hand quickly finding its way to his throbbing nose. "What the hell?!"

"Ah! Sasuke! You scared me!" Sakura wailed in a hoarse voice, letting out a long and heavy sigh as she collapsed back in front of her toilet. Her face was as pale as the sheets that lined her mattress and her whole body was managing to tremble enough for Sasuke to drop his hand off his slightly bloody nose and dart back up to his feet. She smiled oh so daintily as she waved her small little hand in his direction. "I don't recommend you come in here, I'm a complete mess."

His face scrunched up angrily. "Why the hell are you smiling?! Isn't the baby dying?!" He stood underneath the door frame to the bathroom and looked somewhat like a menacing giant but to Sakura he looked just the same, only he wasn't making the least bit of sense.

"What in the world are you talking about? The baby isn't dying.." Her pink brows met in the middle. Sasuke had never sounded so completely out of his mind like this ever in his life. She was so absolutely confused and when he collapsed against the wall in her bathroom and leaned his head against the wall, his startled looking eyes that were now glazed over were dead set on the ceiling above him, she grew more confused. "Sasuke what has gotten into you? Who told you the baby was dying?"

He let out a long breath and rolled the small brown bag her way. "That damned Doctor at the clinic told me I absolutely _had_ to deliver these _damned_ pills to you or the pregnancy will suffer." He shook his head sourly. "And I was dumb enough to believe her."

Sakura chuckled innocently as she too leaned against the wall. "Sasuke don't you think if those pills were mandatory for your baby to live, I would have them already? God you have so little faith in me." She smiled at him, at his still confused and worried face, but she felt almost overwhelmed and her body began to function without her consent. She sucked in a long breath before she scrambled onto her knees and hugged the toilet bowl, waiting for the worst to come.

Once Sasuke saw Sakura curl herself around the toilet bowl his initial reaction was to quickly get the hell out of there before being dragged into it but instead he found himself doing the nice guy act of making his way over to her side, despite her protests and as gently as he could, pull her hair out of her face. He didn't exactly know why or what drove him to do such an act that intruded in her personal space but when she didn't reprimand him for not leaving her alone he stayed there, crouching by her side with her pink hair in his left hand while he looked the opposite direction with an almost flushed face.

When she was finished vomiting from her early morning sickness and flushed the toilet she let out a shaky sigh. She leaned back against the wall once Sasuke let go of her hair and stood up, returning back to the entrance of the bathroom. "I'm feeling better now. I don't think I'm going to vomit anymore..." She stated. It was true, the queeziness that once resided in her stomach had subsided for the time being and that relieved her. "You know, with the way you're acting it seems like you're the one going through all these hormonal changes and not me." As she laughed heartily, Sasuke let out a huff.

"Hmph, whatever. Just take your damned pills." He stated harshly as he turned to leave, his back now facing her, but with a last ditch effort, Sakura smiled.

"Sasuke wait." She stared at him until he turned around and glanced down at her with unreadable eyes. She just continued to smile at him. "Thank you for caring."

* * *

_Awww out little Sasuke has feeelingssss and can caareee for peoppllleeee how cuuute! Poor little Sasuke, thinkin' his baby was going to die and Sakura was in danger. Such a cute little guy. And also sneaky man Kakashi, watching your every move! Better watch out Sasuke, Sakura, he's coming for you! _

_Thank you very much for everything you guys 'n' gals! Not only the reviews, but the faves and follows! Woot woot! We reached the 50th review! Thanks to **STARKISS666** for the lovely 50th review! You've given me some great things to think about! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own this anime dammit !_


	12. Chapter 12

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 12-_

_rated for language / **adult themes**_

* * *

"What the hell..?" Karin questioned with a raised brow when her crimson eyes laid upon a large bag in the middle of their future baby's nursery. She never remembered leaving the house to obtain that light blue plastic bag filled with God knows what - so she was more than curious. She paced over into the middle of the empty room and poked at the handles, pushing them open, and peering in. "What the eff?!" She pulled out a tiny pink dress that would fit a newborn baby. "Where the hell did these come from?!"

She held the dress incredibly close to her face and shook her head. "This doesn't make sense. Sasuke would never buy these... Or would he?" Everything she knew about Sasuke would not add up to this bag of... Girly looking baby clothes! She dug her hands through the clothes and pulled out a little yellow bunny outfit. She snickered at the thought of her husband going out and buying these - he'd be the laughing stock of the village!

She stood up pin straight with a joking expression etched onto her face, staring into the cute little designs on the bunny suit she held close to her face. Sasuke sure did have some questions to answer when he returned home from a reconnaissance mission he was assigned to. She hauled the bag over her right shoulder and marched her way over to the living room where she then began to closely inspect all of the clothing articles. She had to admit most of them were incredibly adorable and deemed them worthy for her child but the others she had high doubt Sasuke would ever give a second glance to.

So hours later, around eleven thirty PM, she heard a pair of footsteps place themselves in front of the front door and the slight jingling of keys - Sasuke was home. Karin jumped up to her feet and was in front of the door in a moments notice, being the first thing Sasuke would see when he returned home. "Sasuke!" She smiled as happily as she could because anytime when she wasn't alone in this manse she was elated.

He sighed and tried to take a step into the house. "Can't you wait until I'm in my house before you bombard me?"

"Nope." She stated with a slight undertone of frustration, but she never gave up too easily, so she took a step back and allowed him to come inside. Once he dropped his bag against the wood paneled floor Karin enthusiastically hopped over to the couch, where she had the bag of clothes she sorted through and picked up the small yellow bunny styled outfit. "Did you buys these clothes, Sasuke?!" She paced back over in front of Sasuke and held the little piece of clothing in front of his own face.

With his temper being poked at, Sasuke pulled his head away. "You think I bought that?"

"Well how the hell else did it get here?" She shook her head. "It didn't just 'magically' appear."

"I know how it got here, Karin. But I didn't buy them." Sasuke carefully pushed his way passed her and made his way for the kitchen.

"Then how? There's a lot in that bag, it must have cost someone that isn't us a lot of money." Karin inwardly snickered and trailed right behind him then jumped up and casually sit on the island facing him. She watched him pour himself a glass of water and turn back toward her.

"Ino bought them for Sakura and then Sakura gave them to me since she obviously doesn't need them." He stated dryly, taking another gulp of water, watching Karin carefully with slightly furrowed brows. He never understood this woman.

"Oh." She seemed to lose all interest on the subject completely, so she set the little baby outfit down beside her. She looked back at him with a sneaky expression that he never trusted. It only meant one thing. "Do youu..." Her eyes read smitten to him and let out a long sigh. "...wanna have sex?" She would have jumped him right then and there but decided against making him more irritated than he already was.

"No." Sasuke took another sip from his water and badly wanted just to go to bed but Karin wouldn't let him go with just a simple one word response.

"What?! Why not?" She let out a silly whimper and cocked her head at him, her bottom lip slightly pouting.

He simply blinked at her, absolutely uninterested in her attempts to bed him. "Because I don't want to."

"UGH! BUT SASUKE! I WANT TO !YOU HAVE TO PLEASE ME! How will I ever sleep in the same bed as you tonight when my loins are aching for you!" She cried out dramatically, throwing her arms up into the air thinking somehow this action would help her case.

"Then sleep somewhere else. I'm sleeping in my own bed tonight."

Sasuke placed his glass back into the sink and casually left the kitchen, leaving his horny wife alone.

...

The next day Naruto brought it upon himself to have yet another Team 7 reunion since Kakashi had successfully returned back home from a dangerous mission. Surprisingly it wasn't at Ichiraku's ramen like every other event when Naruto planned it, it was at a small dumpling cafe not too far away. Sasuke could live with dumplings, so he said "fine" to Naruto and shut the door in his face promptly.

About half an hour before the dinner started Sasuke pulled on his sandals and hurried out of the door, not wanting to alert Karin of his departure because he didn't want to end up having to be dragged around by her all night. Once he rounded a corner and told himself he was safe from Karin's eyes he slowed his pace and casually walked through the empty streets. He never liked how lonely the Uchiha district seemed. As much as he complained that he hated over crowded places, or just noise in general, he secretly didn't mind it because it always told him there were people around him. Even if they didn't mean anything to him, they were still people. So as he walked down the street all by his lonesome, he envisioned his children outside in the streets or the large pond centered in the middle of the vast Uchiha land, training and playing games with each other like he and Itachi would back in the day. It somewhat gave him comfort that he wouldn't be lonely anymore.

Lost in his reverie and snapped back out, he realized he was standing in front of the dumpling cafe and was immediately greeted by Kakashi and Naruto, who were idly chatting outside the shop.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto greeted Sasuke though he shot Sasuke the stink eye for shutting the door rudely in his face earlier. Sasuke completely ignored the blonde.

Kakashi took a step forward and quickly eyed Sasuke over. "Hello Sasuke." He greeted casually, dipping his hands into his pants pockets.

Sasuke gave him a slight nod in his direction. "Kakashi."

The three men stood there in complete silence until Naruto broke said silence. "Well let's go in, I'm starved and I bet you are too, Kakashi-Sensei!"

Naruto dove into the cafe with a hungry grimace on his face and Kakashi coolly entered, pacing over to the booth that Naruto chose, but it seemed to Sasuke like he was the only one that had manners. "What about Sakura? It'd be rude to sit down without her."

"Nah, she told me to start without her, she isn't feeling too good right now!" Naruto rubbed his hands together feverishly and his grubby little paws immediately went for the small laminated folded menu that were placed on the edge of the counter from the waitress, his mouth watering already. Sasuke's brow twitched at the thought but sat down beside Kakashi anyway, not noticing the curious eye of Kakashi that watched his reaction to Sakura.

"Mmm.." Naruto moaned lightly as his eyes scanned over the small script on the white paper, his fingers clutching it even rougher. "I'm gonna get the Chahan fried rice for my appetizer..."

"So, Sasuke." Kakashi began, slightly turning his body to face the younger man. "How's life been treating you? I haven't spoken to you in a while."

"Same as always I suppose."

"Ah." From there the three were yet again silenced, set aside from Naruto's stomach grumbling and his whines for food. When the waitress arrived Naruto begged her to tell the chef to make his appetizer top priority while Sasuke and Kakashi calmly gave their orders.

They sat there awkwardly, both Naruto and Sasuke were too prideful on speaking first and Kakashi just didn't want to bother with these two anymore. "Honestly you two, you are both grown men." He coolly said and to his luck, the pinkette appeared at the door and with a smiling face, took her seat beside Naruto.

"Sorry I'm late, I've been feeling so sick these passed few days!" Sakura mentioned, catching eyes with Sasuke once but remained looking at Kakashi. "It's been a while Kakashi-Sensei, how have you been?"

Kakashi noted that small glance they both exchanged before responding. "I've been fine. This last mission I was assigned to was a real doozy."

"But of course our old Sensei saved the day, uh?" Naruto grimaced. "I heard you saved all of your team mates lives!"

"Well-"

"And you got most of the enemies before they could fight back for the stolen intel!" Naruto punched the air dramatically, honing his acting skills as he began to impersonate Kakashi. "By the way when can we see what's under your mask Sensei?"

"Anyways." Waving off the comment, Kakashi's single beady black eye looked over at Sakura, who was quickly going over the menu with herself. "How are you feeling, Sakura? It seems like you've been sick almost every day. When I arrived back from my mission I asked the nurse where you were and she said you were too sick to get to work that morning."

A slight blush scattered across her cheeks. "A-ah, it's nothing Sensei.."

"Kaka-Sensei, you don't know!? Sakura's got a baby in there!" The blonde then proceeded to point his finger at Sakura's abdomen to emphasize his point. "The news is eveeryywheereee!"

As if she weren't embarrassed enough she could see Kakashi smiled beneath his fabric mask. "Congratulations Sakura! That's wonderful news!" He'd been waiting for one of his squad members to settle down - and no, he did not count Sasuke's marriage as 'settling down' since he could see through it's faulty facade. "If you don't mind me asking-"

"I know what you're going to ask - it's not my baby. I applied to become a surrogate." Sakura neatly folded the menu and continued to peer at him, not daring to look at Sasuke.

"Even more congratulations then. Becoming a surrogate is wonderful."

Naruto chimed in. "Plus I hear surrogate's get big fat cash stacks."

"Enough about me you two." She told them gently, taking a small sip from her water and prayed they'd just leave her alone.

"Alright, SASUKE." Naruto snapped his head in the Uchiha's direction and frowned angrily at him. "I called you earlier to tell you about dinner tonight and my cousin picked up, you weren't there so we got to talkin'. She said you were being a jerk to her!"

Sasuke glared at him from across the table. "Why is that any of your business?"

"She's my only family! Only freakin' God knows why in the hell she married an ass like you!"

"Bud out of my marriage." Both continued to glare each other down while both Sakura and Kakashi sighed to themselves.

Kakashi seemed like the only level headed one out of the four when Sakura had to use her monster strength to pull Naruto by the collar off the table before he got into trouble with the manager. "Whenever we get together like this it always seems to turn out eventful."

...

"I'll walk you home Sakura." Naruto announced happily to Sakura and after they bid their farewells, Kakashi gently grabbed Sasuke's upper arm.

"Come here, Sasuke. I need to speak with you."

Sasuke took a step back and once Kakashi let go of his arm he raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

He truly didn't know how to explain this and if he was wrong he would blame it on old age. "Well, I've noticed a few things here and there, Sasuke. I don't want to get into intricate detail because a man like me has things he has to do, but... If you _are_ having an affair with Sakura, you need to make it less discreet. I can tell there's something going on between you two, and it is _none_ of my business, but if word gets out and you get in trouble with Sakura then you better stay hidden because I don't think the Hokage will sit well with it - especially if that child is yours, not this 'surrogate' business."

"Tch. I am _not_ having an affair with Sakura." He bit out angrily, both men were staring into each other's deep black eyes, Kakashi on the offence and Sasuke on the defense.

"I'm just saying - don't dig your grave deeper with these people. You've already started to build bridges back, don't go burning them down again."

"You have no idea what's going on Kakashi." Sasuke bit out and turned indignantly and left, leaving Kakashi to stand there in front of the cafe alone.

* * *

_Oh god horny Karin scares the crap out of me. D: Why did I write that then, you ask? It's simple. Because I don't want her to be happy in any sort of terms. :) wow Kakashi you friggan' sneaky smart man, you know what's up. I wonder what Kakashi will say or do next?  
_

_IF YOU GUYS WANT TO SEE SOMETHING, ANYTHING REALLY, TELL ME BECAUSE I NEED SOME FILLER IN BETWEEN BIG EVENTS AND STUFF. Tell me doe and I will really try my best to get it in there. _

_Thanks for the reviews/faves/follows! :D _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	13. Chapter 13

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 13-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

"Karin, you're going stir crazy." Sasuke announced casually, his inky black eyes never leaving the old yellow pages of the book he was reading. Being Orochimaru's old subordinate Sasuke witnessed lots of prisoners and test subjects go absolutely nuts from being incarcerated for so long and he was starting to see the symptoms in Karin. Quite frankly if it progressed he didn't even want to be in the same house as her.

She crossed her arms and stuck her nose up obnoxiously. "What, so you're comparing me to inmates, Sasuke?!"

"You need to get out of the house. I don't care what you do, just go somewhere." He peered over the book and gave her a serious look.

"I don't want to go out alone, come with me." She whined and pleaded but to no avail, Sasuke still sat on the couch with a book in his hand, not looking like he wanted to budge.

"Call Suigetsu or Jūgo if you don't want to be alone." And with that, Karin could tell the conversation was over. There was no use arguing with him because he'd never admit his wrongs even if they were staring him right in the face. So angrily and feeling like she was being pressured to do so, she held the large white phone in her hand and called her former team mate, Suigetsu first.

Suigetsu never changed over the years and to her surprise still stayed in the village. As much as she hated to admit it he was still one of her only friends. After he agreed to go out she hung up the phone and dialed the number that belonged to the hospitals main desk. Ever since joining Konoha, Jūgo sought out help from Lady Tsunade for his rage. A lot of research and testing went into finding a cure or at least medicinal help and it worked. Jūgo just had to take two caplets a day and his uncontrollable rage was buried deep. Ever since then he was training in the medical field under her wing. She hung up the phone after he agreed to meet up with her when his break started.

"I hope you're happy!" Karin called out from the kitchen sourly, roughly placing the phone back into its cartridge. She stomped right back over to the living room entrance. "I honestly have no idea why you're making me do this!"

"You'll feel better once you go out."

"Ugh!" She grabbed her coat, pulled her sandals on her feet, and pushed her way through the door in a rush.

It was a rather chilly day and Karin cursed to herself for being forced out of the house on a crappy day like this when she could be curled up at his side with some tea. She trudged through the Uchiha district and was on the main road, feeling like it was the first day she arrived in Konoha after the court ruled she was no harm to them. She stood there awkwardly until she remembered where it was she was going.

So she trekked on down the main road until she spotted the man with the head of white and and grit her teeth together. She didn't know why in the hell she called him.

"Karin! Long time no see. I hear you've become a hermit." He joked with a large spiky grin, acting as if it were no big deal that he called her a name.

She let out a sigh and grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest to feel more secure. "Same as always Suigetsu, a huge jerk!"

"Hey hey, calm it Karin, I'm just playing. So where's Sasuke, he not coming?" He questioned as the two began to idly walk down the street.

"Tch! No! He's got better things to do, rather than leaving the house with us. I swear, he'll leave the house to meet with his old team mates, but he wont leave the house for us?! What the hell!? We are his old team mates too, yenno!"

Suigetsu merely shrugged. "If he don't wanna go out, he don't wanna go out. You know him Karin, you can't make him do anything."

"Pff. Then he shouldn't force me to go out! As if I was going to meet up with you two on my own...!"

"Hey, that's hurtful!" Suigetsu playfully bit back and they immediately spotted the orange haired man just down the road with a small drink. Karin smiled a little bit to herself because Jūgo was more bearable to be around.

Once they reached the man they all gave each other a little nod, recognizing each others presence. It was weird being with them in a group for Karin, since they weren't given orders to go inspect something or receive intel from the locals.

"Karin, Suigetsu." Jūgo greeted with that deep voice of his, taking a small sip of what seemed and smelled to be black coffee. He was clad in blue scrubs, black sandals (since it was against regulation to be barefoot), and a long, pristine lab coat. If Karin didn't know Jūgo when he was unstable she would have deemed him a normal looking doctor.

"Hey Jūgo, look at you! Looking all doctor-ly. I never thought you had it in you!" Suigetsu joked and placed his large hand on the mans much larger shoulder. He smiled down at him before they started walking down the road once more.

"Lady Tsunade is a wonderful teacher." He put it simply and took a small sip of his coffee, gazing around the streets with his orangey eyes, unsure of what to say next.

"Well since you asked and all, I'm still collecting the swords of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Five in total. They're my babies." Suigetsu proudly wiped the imaginary dirt off his shoulders. "Let's stop here. This place has greeeaat tempura."

Once they all agreed to it, they sat outside the little shop underneath a light yellow awning, all around a small metal table with a napkin holder and clean plates. Karin still felt like these were men she would be exchanging tactics and strategies with, rather than sitting down at a nice little shop and eating fresh tempura.

"So Karin, what the hell have you been doing?" Suigetsu grinned and leaned back in his seat, raising a sleek white brow at the woman. "Apart from Sasuke."

"Oh wow Suigetsu, you're so funny!" She snarled and pushed her glasses up with her index fingers. At that moment she witnessed Sakura walking down the street happily beside two blondes, and her big green eyes stared into her own crimson eyes for a moment. Sakura quickly looked away from her and continued laughing along with her friends, hauling some large grocery and shopping bags. Karin merely rolled her eyes and snap her attention back to the males at her table.

"Woah, what was that stare down with that chick for?"

"Doctor Haruno?" Jūgo raised a brow to Karin and both men expected a reply.

Karin huffed and angrily watched the women walk until they were out of sight "I'm going to tell you guys a secret and I swear if I hear you told someone I'm going to sic Sasuke on you!" They nodded in a silent agreement that no words would be uttered about whatever the hell she was going to tell them. "Alright well, and Suigetsu I swear to God if you say anything snarky I'll kill you myself, anyways. It turns out that I don't have eggs, yada yada, so obviously I can't give Sasuke the children he needs. Despite Sasuke really not wanting to use her, Sakura was the only surrogate they have. So she's currently pregnant."

Suigetsu was left with an absolutely shocked expression while Jūgo looked unsure. "That doesn't explain why you don't like Doctor Haruno. That's something great she's doing for you, and you don't like her because of it?"

Karin groaned. "Nooo. You know, she used to have a thing for Sasuke back when they were team mates! And she probably still has a thing for him! AND she's freakin' pregnant with his child, and it's hers?! Something sneaky is going on there. What if she kidnaps my little baby and I never see it again?!" The tempura was delivered to the table and Suigetsu promptly began to chow down.

"There was legal documentation involved, wasn't there?"

"Ugh, yeah." She idly picked up the stick holding the tempura and held it in the air, inspecting it carefully. She knew Jūgo was going to tell her there was nothing to worry about just like Sasuke had told her. They just didn't see it the way she saw it!

"Well she'd be declared a missing-nin and hunted down then charged with kidnapping, then be thrown in prison! Honestly you should hope she steals that child if you _really_ don't like her." The white haired man talked with his mouth full of the deep fried vegetables. "Then she can rot in prison even after, you know, she harbors a living baby within her for nine months for you since _you_ can't... But your choice."

"Ugh. I guess I don't want something serious like _that_ to happen, but if she could kindly fuck off when _my_ baby is born then I'm fine."

"Technically it's not yours.."

"Shut up Suigetsu."

...

Sasuke was somewhat pleasantly surprised when Karin returned home later that evening. He wished he had more alone time to train and read, but he told himself half an hour ago if she were out of the house for more than five hours there was something fishy going on or she passed out from exhaustion from walking too much. He watched her with a raised brow when she kicked off her sandals and trudged over to him with bags weighing her arms down.

"Aren't you proud of me? I was out for most of the day!" She grimaced and threw the bags onto the wooden counter of the island and began fishing through them, her eyes set on something she needed.

He shrugged despite knowing she couldn't see it and continued watching her silently, waiting for her to show him whatever she was looking for. He waited for a few seconds more before she pulled out a paperback book. "I got a book we might want to read." She flipped it between her fingers to show him the cover.

_**What to expect.**_

"I don't know. I don't know much about children but I know once our baby is born my maternal instincts will kick in and I'll know how to do everything - so you should give it a read."

"Hmph." He snatched the book from her fingers and tossed it around his fingers for a moment before momentarily losing interest. "I'd advise against not reading the book, Karin. I don't know if I could trust you with our child if you're just going to 'wing it.'" He smirked when she smiled and rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to bed, I'm seriously tired." She announced and strung the handles of the bags through her fingers and casually walked out of the kitchen and toward their bedroom.

With his glass of water, Sasuke paced back to the living room and sat down with the book still in hand, his curiosity getting the better of him. He turned the cover and first few pages to find the index. The book was categorized into five sections. Preconception, pregnancy, first year, toddler, and family. Since the others currently had no meaning to him, he found the exact first page of the pregnancy section and his eyes darted around the sub-sections. First, second, and third trimester. Underneath each sub-section were the exact weeks that were included in the trimesters, so Sasuke turned a few pages to the First Trimester, Week four.

_The blastocyst that will be your baby splits to form the placenta and the embryo, and the specialized parts of your baby's body begin to develop_. Was the intro sentence to Week Four, and he continued on. _Your baby in Week Four: No bigger than a poppy seed!_ He thought to himself for a brief moment, trying to remember how big exactly a poppy seed was. _It will split in half, one half being your baby, and the other half will be the placenta_. The rest spoke about what will be happening next so he skipped to the next part. _Your body in Week Four: You may start exhibiting early pregnancy symptoms like bloating, cramping, and mood swings that feel similar to premenstrual symptoms. You might also experience implantation bleeding, a common (and harmless) light pink, red, or brown spotting that can occur when the egg settles into your uterus_. He shuddered at the thought of Sakura going through mood swings.

He closed the book and thought to himself how glad he was not to be a woman.

* * *

_wow crappy chapter but now Sasuke has his hands on a book that will surely torment him through this story! D: I feel super bad this chapter was not only short but shi** too. I just feel the need to include Karin chapters as much as I can, even though you guys hate her a lot. Please don't leave because of this chapter D: Also I didn't mean for the last sentence to sound offensive in any way, just his thoughts. C: Plus a reviewer asked if Suigetsu/Jūgo were still around so then I felt guilty for not including them because I love them so I wrote this up. _

_Question: Do Sasuke and Karin sleep in the same room/bed?  
Answer: Yes they do, lol, Sasuke only said that in the last chapter because she was whining about having to sleep in the same bed yada yada._

_Question: Why did Sasuke marry Karin?  
Answer: Because Sasuke felt that he'd done too many bad things to people to ever expect a wife but Karin was still on board for getting married so he was like "okay sure I'll settle for this" and they signed some papers in the Hokage's office and ta-da they were married. C: _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto + the book's quotes I wrote down were from a website called whattoexpect _


	14. Chapter 14

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 14-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

That night, when Sasuke climbed into his large bed beside Karin and let his eyes close, he fell into a deep dream filled sleep. Oftentimes when Sasuke Uchiha dreamed they were filled with ill thoughts and things he did wrong with his life. He wasn't one to dwell on the terrible acts he committed in his youth but he needed a release - and it always ended up being his dreams. His usual dreams and nightmares followed the same timelines. They'd either be in his childhood, when he was with his parents and other family, enjoying his life, or after the massacre. Then when he was working under Orochimaru and did despicable things to people. He dreamed about them.

But tonight was different. Only a few times he had dreams that ever involved Sakura, and they were solely based around her. They were dreams about team seven, the missions they went on, or what he did to them when he wasn't in a right state of mind. This one was refreshingly about Sakura, and their baby.

They were in a pristine hospital room. The lights were specially attuned to the way Sakura would have liked them to be, non-fluorescent. The window was slightly ajar, letting in the cool air of September drift through the room, cleaning out the putrid smell of the sterilized equipment that Sakura complained she didn't want her child having to smell such a gross smell. There was a small white bowl on the end table beside her hospital bed, filled to the brim with cut off pink roses because earlier that day Ino arrived to bid her congrats and that the roses were in season for September and they meant gentleness, joy, and grace. Thankfully, Sakura commented, the smell of the roses brightened up her day - if that was even possible. In the metal bed that was fitted with many brand new cotton sheets, lay Sakura. She was strong, but any new mother would need to catch up on her rest, so she lay there with a faint smile on her flushed face. Her bright jade eyes had a proud and loving undertone to them as they stared down to what looked like a little bundle of blankets. It wasn't just any pile of blankets you'd find in your broom closet for guests, no. It carried something that was more valuable than her even her life. Inside that bundle lay her little angel. Sakura lovingly put out that she was thrilled that her child did not come out with her head of hair and that she prayed for it almost every single night to have the shiny black hair she wanted. With her right index finger she ever so gently touched the soft flustered cheek of the newborn child and giggled when the tiny eyelids opened themselves up and she was greeted by the eyes her DNA provided.

The door that connected her room to the vast hallway suddenly opened and three people walked in. The first was a woman who wore a white nurse's dress and she made her way to the side of Sakura's bed. She quickly slid her arms underneath the little bundle Sakura held and pulled it away from her rather harshly and stated it was not hers to keep. Sakura's eyes grew large and panicked, thrashing about in her bed to untangle herself from the sheets and blankets, screeching that she only wanted a few more minutes with the child before the time came but the nurse continued on until she passed the two people that originally followed her in.

They were two large men that wore tight white t-shirts and black trousers. The back of their shirts read security, and Sakura already knew who they were. She stated she didn't want to hurt them but that she just needed a moment more with her baby, but they crossed their arms and shook their heads, stating legally she wasn't allowed more time. She tried to run passed them but they grabbed her with their burly arms and held her back, and no matter how renown Sakura was for her monster strength, she could not fight these men. Tears streamed down her face and when the men let go of her she collapsed down onto her knees, her head hanging low, her pink hair a mess and her once serene hospital room now felt like a torture cell.

Sasuke awoke with a start, sitting up pin straight, gasping for a breath of air, his eyes already spinning into the crimson kaleidoscope. The back of his neck was hot and coated in a thin sheet of sweat. It was becoming a regular routine for him to awake with such a start, enough to wake the person next to him in the bed. Once he evened out his breathing and let his eyes return back to normal, he carefully laid back down in the bed.

Karin, who always woke up to a sweat drenched Sasuke in the middle of the night, turned to face his body and carefully wrap her arm around his chest. He was grateful for her in times like this when he could never fully bring comfort to himself. It was something she was good at.

With her head laying against his chest, Karin let out a small supportive sigh. "What were you dreaming about?" She could feel his heart furiously pounding against his rib cage, filling her ears with the almost calming drumming.

"The baby." He let out a shaky breath, his forehead only starting to feel a little cooler now that he was growing a little more calmed. He licked his lips.

These were the only times Karin's voice would be so quiet and serene, an almost calming thing to hear. "Really? What about the baby made you end up like this?"

He thought for a brief moment. "...That they took our baby away from us because of our past." He sighed and wrapped his arms around her small figure, hugging her tightly. He wasn't much of a hugger but when he did give the rare hug or two, it felt nice. What didn't feel nice was that he was blatantly lying to this woman even though she was taking time out of her sleeping schedule to ease him back to sleep, but he could never tell her what it was he was actually dreaming about.

She smiled gently against his chest and hugged him tighter. "They'd never allow you back into the village under the impression that you were never going to have children, Sasuke. There's nothing to fear."

Sasuke gave her a slight nod. Although what she said had nothing to do with his actual dream, it quenched a fear in the back of his mind that the Konoha elders would suddenly rule that his children were not to be under his care and put into the government system. "Thanks." He whispered almost inaudibly just before he could hear her breathing grow slower and even out properly, telling him she fell back asleep in his arms.

That night Sasuke couldn't bear to go back to sleep.

...

That morning Sasuke carefully peeled himself away from Karin and slunk out of their bedroom. Usually he told Karin she needed to wake up earlier since sleeping in wasted lots of time in the day when she could be doing so much, but today Sasuke felt like he'd let her sleep in.

He started to make himself breakfast. He would have made her breakfast if it weren't for the fact that she was very particular about what she was eating on what morning and what mood she was in, so he didn't want to bother. Once he was finished, he sat upon the bar stool with his food in front of him and his 'What to expect' book to his right.

When he was finished his breakfast, Karin casually walked into the kitchen, looking no more or less tired than she usually looked. "Morning." She greeted lazily and took a seat on the bar stool across from him, her eyes still reading sleepy.

"Morning." Sasuke blinked and tapped the cover of the book with his right hand then carefully slid it over in front of her. "The baby is the size of a poppy seed."

She smiled broadly and flipped the cover open then to a random page. "When did you read this? When you woke up?"

"Last night." He slid off his stool and began to wash his dishes in the sink.

"A poppy seed, hmm? That's pretty small." She commented and began reading the first page of the week four part, raising an eyebrow at some of the things it stated. "God I'd hate to be pregnant. This sounds horrible." When Sasuke didn't give her a reply, she flipped to a random page that read Week Sixteen. "We get to learn the gender in three months... Let me guess, you want a son."

She watched through amused eyes as he shrugged, still cleaning the dishes. "I'm fine with either."

"But you know the saying, Sasuke, that you need to have a boy first so he can protect his little sister!"

"I'd want my daughter to be able to protect herself." Karin saw just a slight smirk on his face.

Karin snorted. "Oh don't pull that on me. I know how protective you're going to be with her, none of that 'she can protect herself' crap you're saying now. Just you wait until she's a teenager. There'll be boys crowding around the house just to get a glimpse of her." She laughed when she could see him visibly get upset over that revelation.

"Not if I can help it." He stated simply and began to dry his hands on the hand towel that hung off the oven's large handle. She just continued laughing, despite the serious look on his face.

"You can relax. She's only the size of a poppy seed right now."

"So you want a girl?" He questioned as he leaned his body against the counter behind him.

"I'd like a little girl, yes. I have a feeling if we had a son I'd be left in the dust while you two trained."

"There's another saying, Karin, 'Mamas Boy.' You don't think that would apply to you?"

"I'm not his mother, so no it wouldn't apply to me."

They stood there in awkward, tension thick silence, both unsure of what to say after that. Karin stood up from her bar stool and walked toward the fridge while Sasuke's eyes trailed to the floor beneath his feet. "I'm going to make breakfast." She stated, so he moved away from the sink and oven and left the kitchen, not knowing what to think.

...

In the noontime, Sasuke received a messenger bird at his back window. He carefully removed the note tied to it's frail yellow leg and sent it on it's way. He unrolled the little note and began to scan over it. He was needed for an important mission debriefing at the Hokage's tower and soon as possible, so he zoomed around his house to get ready and immediately left his house.

In about ten minutes Sasuke was outside of the Hokage's office and took a step in, recognizing a few faces that he had not expected; however, the Hokage's choices were final. Though for one - he was definitely not expecting to see Sakura's face at a mission debriefing. She shouldn't even be taking up missions in her condition!

He would have argued with her right then and there but he knew he had to keep his cool composure, though he knew she could see his hard black eyes staring her down.

Lady Tsunade gave her short debrief on the mission, giving Sasuke and his other squad members their roles throughout the mission and what their sole objective was. The blonde woman turned her face toward Sakura. "The reason I called you in, Sakura, is because we are expecting injuries as a result from this mission. I want you to ready the emergency rooms and operating rooms for two days from now. If there are dire circumstances then have the locked down room re-opened for such an occasion."

Sakura nodded, reaffirming she was taking on these duties for the hospital and held them with great importance.

Sasuke had to admit, he was greatly relieved to see Sakura like this, not a sobbing mess in a hospital room like he dreamed of last night. She seemed normal, as if it were any normal day for her, which he supposed it was. But for him it was a great stress-lifter to see her okay and healthy.

When Tsunade shooed them out of her office, Sakura caught Sasuke's arm. She stared at him with hard green eyes. "Why were you giving me those dirty looks?"

"I thought you were assigned to the mission as a medic for the field." He put it as simply as he could and tried his very best to remain stoic, not wanting to sound as relieved as he currently felt. "Naturally I was angry that you took on a decently dangerous task in your condition."

She smiled brightly as him, her green eyes glimmered. "I wouldn't, and Tsunade would never assign me a mission until I was ready and able."

He gave her a simple nod and she could see a slight glimmer in his own eyes, a prideful glimmer. "Sakura, do you know how big the baby is right now?"

"Eh?" She questioned curiously with a puzzled expression. "No, I guess I don't really know for certain..."

"The size of a poppy seed."

* * *

_Guys, guys. Poppy seed. That is all._

_Thanks for the reviews/faves/follows! I love all of the ideas I'm getting! :) _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! _


	15. Chapter 15

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 15-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

That evening Sasuke was scheduled to leave for his mission with his assigned team mates. He left his home clad in his anbu attire, bidding a small goodbye to Karin as he left out the door and was sprinting across the rooftops while fitting his mask in place.

He stopped in front of the large open Konoha gates, stepping up beside the two men who had already arrived, giving them a slight nod. "We're waiting on Kawatake." One stated with a rough voice behind the mask. He wore a white long jacket that stated he was their squad leader and the only one that held every single detail of the mission. "In roughly ten we will leave in the direction Lady Hokage told us earlier. We will continue on until tomorrow night where we will rest."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in confirmation and noticed the last squad member appear before their eyes.

"Kawatake reporting in." She reported with a firm voice feeling overly lucky that she wasn't a minute too late or they would have left without her. The others gave her a small nod and looked back to the leader then received a nod from him. In a split second they disappeared in small clouds of smoke.

Their mission was to survey and eliminate a supposedly secrete bunker in the Land of Sound. Even after Orochimaru's demise there were still a good handful of brainwashed test-subjects and orderlies that believed they were were only captured to rise in his place. A ninja from Konoha undertook the mission to blend in with the maniacs and report intel. Not only were the letters stopped abruptly just as the intel was getting dramatically interesting - but nin from the sound had began to dwell on the other side of the Fire Country's border, making Lady Tsunade fear for an invasion. First off they were to survey the area surrounding the underground bunker and watch their guard patterns then they were to infiltrate and eliminate.

Sasuke was partially surprised that the Hokage allowed him in this mission.

Through the whole day they ran. They stopped for very few water and bathroom breaks along the way and non spoke a word to each other. When they were on a water break in the middle of the night, Sasuke finally had time to rank his team mates in his head.

He'd start with Kawatake. She was chosen because of her prowess in setting up almost undetectable traps that would kill any people in a certain vicinity. Not only that but she had high levels in tinkering - she could lace poison into anything and had a knack for tossing in poison grenades without the enemy even noticing. It was a good skill when dealing with an underground bunker. Sasuke gazed over at the man who was currently leaning against a tree, squirting a large stream of water from his metal flask into his mouth. Miura. He was one of the top anbu agents the Hokage had, his skill set was above average. He used to be a high ranking thug on the streets that would break-and-enter houses - even if the families were still in - and take their valuables. He was the top infiltration anbu member, stealthily entering and taking care of the threat no problem. Then there was Tsuji. He was their medic nin. Of course any medic in the anbu ranks weren't as good as Tsunade, or Sakura, but Tsuji was apparently a close third. Sasuke never had the opportunity to work with him so this mission was the one that would tell him if he was good or not. The last was their squad leader dressed in his glorious white coat. Captain Eda. He had vast experience with the anbu was was renown for his all over tactics.

"Let's move." Tsuji stated as he fastened his water bottle to his belt, his head then snapping to the side of the direction they were off to. They all gave a simple nod and jumped into the leaf filled branches of the tall trees.

Through the night they continued on and most of the day afterward they began to prepare themselves in a spot where they finally set up camp, just before the border of the Land of Sound. They were on their toes, knowing full well the Sound nin were invading their lands, so they were to be prepared for anything during their rest.

Miura announced he'd take first watch when the sun just dipped beneath the horizon, casting a dark shadow over the lands. With assurance that their backs would be watched through the night, the members laid down on their sleeping mats and shut their eyes, immediately falling into a fast sleep. Even Sasuke couldn't help but rest himself for the upcoming battle. With his internal clock going at full speed, he woke up at exactly the same time Miura's watch ended.

So Sasuke took a seat in front of a large tree, leaning against its rough bark gently. He had his hand casually set upon the hilt of his blade readying for anything and his ears and eyes were finally attuned to the pitch black of the forest. He let his head lean against the tree and his eyes fall upon the blackness of the leaves over his head and the tiny little speckles of stars that shone through.

He began to wonder what was going on in Konoha and that's when he began to get the jitters.

What if Konoha was attacked? If they had left to attack the sound nin, who's to say they would be there, and not already on their way to Konoha? He frowned. If he wasn't currently there to protect Sakura and their baby then he would be the one to blame for her death. He could feel a lump form in his throat and he nervously gripped the hilt of his sword. Just the thought of Sakura falling underneath a blade made him feel such immense anger he hadn't felt in many years. He wondered why that was.

Now he wondered why in the hell he took this mission when Sakura was in a vulnerable state.

...

"There's six in the base. Three around a table, I'm assuming, two looking at a map or paper of some sort by the back west wall, and one sitting in a chair beside the entry way. There's two guarding the hatch down to the bunker and three scatted through the west tree line." Captain Eda announced calmly to the squad. "Uchiha, Kawatake, and I will take the three out by the tree line and return to this spot afterward. Then we will take the two guards out by the entrance as swiftly as possible. We'll talk from there."

They all nodded in unison and were gone in a flash, and at the same time, their blades met the throats of the treeline guards without a sound. They gently let the bodies lay against the ground and they eyes darted to the two guards that stood silently, lazily gazing around, waiting for their shifts to end. Sasuke and Eda stepped forward, letting the others know they would take on the task of taking them out.

Again in a flash Sasuke and Eda disappeared and reappeared right behind the men and like the first three they were down in a moments notice. The three others appeared before them.

"What's the plan now?" Kawatake murmured lowly, her brown eyes darting everywhere. "I know I wasn't brought here for no reason." Eda nodded to her. "Am I to drop down a gas grenade to knock them all out, Captain?"

"Mm." He grumbled to himself. "Now that I think about it - the bunker could be rigged with explosives to hide the evidence. We need one of them alive. So, as I stated earlier, there is still one guard sitting on a chair beside the entry way. One of us will sneak in, pull him into a choker hold while Kawatake will drop a smoke grenade. I'll have either Miura or Uchiha scout the base for our secret agent and if we cannot find him we will have Kawatake drop a poison grenade, seal the hatch, be on our way. We will be out of there and safely away before they can detonate any explosives."

"Yes sir." Kawatake whispered and began to dig through through side pouch, determined to find the necessary ingredients.

"When Kawatake is finished I will enter the base first with both Miura and Uchiha following me directly. I want you two out of there once you're certain our nin is not in the base otherwise there's a strong chance you'll be blown to bits."

They all nodded and eyes were set upon the one woman in the group, waiting for her to give them a nod saying she was ready. She was finished tinkering with the small grenade and looked at them. "I'm ready."

Slowly, Captain Eda wrapped his hands around the large circular hatch door and began to twist it open, careful not to do it too fast to cause the rusty squeak they all knew would happen. Cautiously with the hatch door opened, Eda looked back to Miura and Sasuke with a small nod, and stepped foot into the hatch doorway.

Kawatake stood ready with a small black grenade clutched in her hands while Tsuji was waiting on any coming injuries.

Sasuke carefully followed in behind Eda with his eyes already spinning into it's red formation. They were nearing the end of the metallic hallway, the bright lights buzzing above their heads. He had no worries that his team would fail. Eda reached the doorway and his head snapped to the left, where the chair was currently situated and holding up the sleeping nin's bottom. Eda immediately wrapped his arm around the mans throat and pulled him off the chair abruptly. The man squirmed in his arms and tried screaming and gasping for air and when his face began to turn a beet red. Eda immediately stuck a syringe into his neck and began to pull him down the hallway.

They completely capturing a nin, but now it was time for his own job to be completely aided by Miura. Stealthily, Miura darted forward, taking it upon himself to scour the back part of the bunker while Sasuke remained in the first half. They only had a few moments to get this done with. He turned to his left. Nothing but their kitchen supplies and crates of bulk food items. He looked to the right and saw their leisure room, divided from the same wooden crates. Hung on the wall was non other than their missing nin - which would be why Eda had not seen his signature upon first looks. He was strewn upon the wall with metal tipped darts dotting his body. Sasuke shook his head sourly and met eyes with Miura, giving him a simple nod to tell him their mission was finished - and without alerting the men around the table and the two in some sort of mapping room.

He looked back to the exit and motioned for Kawatake to throw in her poison grenade. The small, block oval shaped grenade flew right over his head and clinked against the grey metal beneath their feat, ultimately alerting the guards - once it did hit; however, Sasuke was already three quarters through the hallway.

"The button!" One of the men cried out and darted to a metal desk in the mapping room, throwing his hand underneath the desk.

Sasuke had made it out of the hatch fine but Miura was too slow to act - he thought perhaps he had enough time to take the nin out to avoid blowing the bunker up. Once he knew he didn't have enough time he ran for the hallway but the explosion was already going down, catching him in the middle of the hallway.

Every one had jumped back a safe amount, giving the explosion enough space to explode at it's full power. The earth shook beneath their feet, a loud rumble entered their ears, smoke rose out of the destroyed hatch entry way. Once the chunks of hot metal finally stopped raining from the sky, Eda and Sasuke were the first to step forward into the wreckage.

They heard the low cries for help through the smoke and then a hand gripping its fingers into the earth below.

"Miura!" Eda called out, kneeling beside the body. "He's alive, but barely." He hauled the man over his shoulder and the two darted through the smoke.

"Oh God." Tsuji murmured when Eda carefully placed Miura onto the soft grass and stared at the medic with high hopes. "I... I can stop the bleeding, but I myself cannot fix this."

"Can you keep him alive for two days?"

"I can try."

...

"Sakura!" Haru cried out as she threw herself into Sakura's office, her face looking rather startled. "We have one emergency incoming from Lady Tsunade's team, they need your assistance!"

Her tired green eyes darted up to Haru, dropping the pen in her hand. "How much time until they arrive?"

"Word is they just checked through the gate, so any minute!"

Sakura gave a firm nod and took the hair tie off her wrist, tying her hair up into a messy ponytail. She'd been warned by Tsunade that they were most likely expecting damage from the anbu squads latest mission to the land of Sound and to have the medical bays prepped and ready. She idly wondered if Sasuke was injured during the mission. As she raced down the hallways she pulled her lab coat over her shoulder and skidded to a complete halt when she reached inside the emergency room.

In came the anbu team, Sasuke with a man over his right shoulder, and the anbu Captain with a man over his left shoulder.

"Sasuke!" Sakura called as she raced over to the hospital bed where he was placing the man. "What happened?"

"He was caught in an explosion." He told her, backing away so the nurses could get in on the action, immediately sticking different needles and IV's into his arms.

"Yeah, that would explain the metal buried under his skin.." She murmured under her breath as she began to start all of the appropriate measures to save this man. "And the third degree burns on his back. Whoever kept this man alive for the two day journey back should be awarded."

As Sakura began vigorously working, Haru stepped over to the next head Doctor. "Neh, Doctor Fujimaki, I don't think Sakura looks too good! She was here all day, plus she had to take the emergency surgery last night, the transplant, right?"

"Yeah..." The Doctor peered over his clipboard for a moment and noticed how she was looking a little paler than usual yet she kept on working hard. "If Doctor Haruno feels ill then I am sure she's smart enough to back out."

Haru rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "The thing is she's too damn stubborn to back away because she wants to help everyone!"

"Put your trust in Doctor Haruno-"

In that moment, both the Doctor and Haru deadpanned when they witnessed Sakura collapse.

* * *

_wow what's gonna happen to poor Sakura? Sorry this chapter has a lot of boring bits but it's building up to some ooey gooey stuff next chapter! feelings feelings feelings! :D _

_11 MORE REVIEWS OMFG THANKS SO MUCH! I love you guys sooooo much! Can we get to 100? :D _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	16. Chapter 16

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 16-_

_rates for language / adult themes_

* * *

Sasuke was thankful that he was still half alert when he noticed Sakura going down. He was right behind her when she first stumbled back and caught her in his arms when she fully lost her footing.

"What the hell? What's wrong with you?" Sasuke gasped and held her weight up as she scrambled to regain her footing, even if she knew Sasuke could see how tired and over worked she was.

She waved her hand in the air like it never even happened. "It's fine - I'm fine! I have patients to tend to Sasuke!" She tried to wiggle away from his arms but failed when her vision was clouded with fuzz. "He needs my help."

Sasuke failed to even notice what she was murmuring because he knew there was no way he was letting her go back to work. He looked over his shoulder to meet eyes with Eda.

"Uchiha, I'm bringing him to Ibiki." He nodded at his Captain and watched as he turned around and was gone in a flash.

Sasuke looked back at Sakura who had managed to stand on her own and stared at him. "Do you want your team mate to live?" She looked at him furiously with crossed arms, trying to keep up an angry facade but Sasuke could see right through it. He smirked when she showed just the tiniest hint of being drained. "Why is this so funny-"

"Sakura, I'm dismissing you." A female voice sounded from over the pinkette's shoulder and startled her, causing her to whirl around with an even angrier face. "If I had known you were up all night with a patient I wouldn't have let you in the medical bay. I mean look at you - you look horrible."

Sakura sighed and placed the back of her hand to her forehead, realizing maybe she wasn't fit to work today. "Will you be taking over my position?"

Tsunade smiled and nodded. "Yes I will be. Uchiha, take her home. If she stands for any longer I think she may just pass out." Sasuke gave her a simple nod and smirked when Sakura's disappointed face turned to him.

"I suppose I'll go home then, Sasuke." She smiled daintily. "You've won this time."

He managed to pick her up bridal style after she became fussy about the way she had to be carried but when her eyelids began to droop he did whatever was easiest for him. Sakura may not have gotten sleep the night before but he had been running for about a day and a half straight with few breaks and carrying an injured man over his shoulder, so he was not in the best condition; however, if it meant getting her home safe then he'd tough through it.

As he was jumping through the rooftops he could see out of the corner of his eye Sakura drift in and out of consciousness, her head lolling around on his arm while she was partially knocked out. He really hoped her lack of sleep would not harm her pregnancy in any way. So with that bitter thought left in his mind, he quickened his pace to get to her home as fast as he can. When he arrived at her doorstep he looked down at her hopelessly sleeping in his arms and he didn't quite have the heart to wake her.

"Alright.." He whispered to himself as he began to scout the area surrounding the door. "Sakura's too smart to keep her spare underneath the doormat..." He kicked the doormat over to reveal the concrete underneath it and smirked when no silver hit his eyes. There were; however, little brown ceramic pots that lined her front window sill so he thought perhaps she'd hid it under those. He couldn't let go of Sakura so he quickly kicked the pesky little pots off the sill to reveal nothing - nothing followed by the shattering of pots. Grumbling he still looked around. At his home he kept he spare above the back doors door frame and it dawned on him.

Now getting it down was another thing. He had no wind jutsu to blow the thing off of the sill, not did he have the usable arms to get it down. Sasuke stared up at the window sill angrily, his eyes burning fiercely. All he had to do was just get it down, why was this so hard?!

The sound of the key entering the lock was the only thing he heard and he looked down to see Sakura reaching over to the door with the little silver key in hand. She smiled innocently at him. "Just get me inside."

He pursed his lips together and stomped in through the door and kicked it shut with his left foot. He paced through the living room and turned left then turned right into her room where her bed was awaiting her arrival. He carefully set her down on the bed just before peeling the animal mask off his face then proceeded to rub his face roughly with his hands - boy was he tired.

Sakura surveyed him for a moment through half-lidded eyes even though her vision began to go blurry. "What's wrong with you?"

Sasuke let out a long sigh and took a step back toward the door. "I haven't slept in a day in a half." He didn't know exactly why he told her because he knew she'd get all snarky and say things like 'you dragged me away from the hospital where I could have been helping people when you're more tired than I am?'

So he expected what she was going to throw at him. "Sasuke!" She tiredly cried out dramatically, flailing her arm up into the air. "And you had to haul that man as well?" He nodded with his eyes closed. She could see the slight beginnings of purple bags under his eyes and his slightly slouched posture. With her keen doctorly eyesight she could see more small details that told his story. She smiled. "I don't think you're going to make it home today, Sasuke. You can crash on my couch if you'd like since your compound is almost all the village away."

He sighed and pried open his eyes. He wouldn't lie - he felt like shit after having to haul his injured team mate over his shoulder for a straight day and a half. His shoulder was ninety five percent cramped and having to carry Sakura didn't give him any sort of break whatsoever. His eyelids alone felt like they weighed twenty pounds each. But if there's one thing he would not do is crash on her couch.

"I'm fine-"

"Sasuke don't you dare! You took me away from the hospital even after I said I was fine so crash on my damn couch-"

"Really, I can manage to get home."

"Get on that couch." A thick red vein appeared on her head and her face turned from a sweet tired princess to a savaged murderer. He was slightly scared of this woman, so he slowly backed out of her room and took a seat on her light yellow couch. He still tried to fight the unbearable urge to fall asleep right then and there so he could go home when she fell asleep, but he still felt her presence being awake.

Sakura grumbled and terribly did not want to sit up from her bed but she had a feeling Sasuke was being sneaky and was keeping himself occupied. So she quietly dragged herself from her sheets and tip-toed over to the doorway. She peered an eye beyond the wall and saw something she didn't quite expect. There lay Sasuke, completely knocked out. She bet if she waved her hand in front of his face he wouldn't even notice. She giggled and smiled sweetly. She watched a few moments more before determining he was not faking.

"What a stubborn boy." She groaned to herself before throwing herself into the mess of sheets and falling into a deep slumber.

...

Again, Sasuke's dreams were something different; however, this one was different than the first Sakura dream.

Again it was situated in a cozy hospital room. It was highly festooned with congratulations banners and flowers of every sort - you could only guess who those were from. Sakura lay in the hospital bed with large light pink blankets strewn across her body to keep her nice and cozy after her natural birth. "_Look at you_." She cooed sweetly, fussing over her baby's blankets and if they were warm enough or not. This time he was not seeing the dream in third person, he was staring at this scene from the corner of the room, his eyes affixed to the two others.

There was a knock at the closed door. Sakura cocked her head and looked at him but quickly returned to the little one in her arms. So he took a step forward and wrapped his hands around the doorknob and pulled the metal door open. He revealed three people. A nurse in a white dress and two muscular men behind her. Security, their white t-shirts read on the left breast. Sasuke furrowed his brows - he had a bad feeling about them so he slowly closed the door in their face, turning around to look back at Sakura and his child.

...

When he awoke presumable the next morning he awoke to big fascinated green eyes looking down on him, making him feel quite flustered and vulnerable. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Sakura smiled and quickly took a step back, folding her arms behind her back. She looked totally fine - the bags under her eyes were non-existent now. "You know you smile when you sleep? What were you dreaming about?" She took a seat on the couch by his feet and cocked her head at him.

Sasuke stared at her for a moment with nothing to say. He remembered the dream vividly and now learning that he was smiling during it made him slightly embarrassed and confused. "I... I don't remember." When in reality he remembered every second. He remembered the feelings he had when he looked upon her face. When he saw the pride written all over her features. The pride she took in the life they made and when he relayed this in his mind he felt his gut wrenching on its own. It was rather explainable since he never felt this for anything or anyone before. It wasn't because she was the biological mother of his child and she was donating her body and nine months of her life to help him have a child but...

He shook it off and sat up, wiping his eyes with his hands before standing up. "I've got to go and start my report." She nodded and stood up to see him out of her apartment. He looked back at her with confusing black eyes and muttered a thank you before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

...

He knocked at the door exactly three times as sternly as he could to show her he meant business. "Come in." Came in the voice he was looking for and when he entered her room she looked quite surprised by his presence. "Uchiha? What are you doing here... And still in that bloody anbu outfit.."

He stood up straight in front of her desk. "I want you to ease Sakura's shifts at the hospital." He announced as if he were the boss, his face stern and his posture perfect. If she were to take him seriously he did not want to look like the bratty little shit he used to be. "With Sakura's high position in the hospital she takes on a lot of responsibility and tasks which are taking their toll on her. You know her condition, Lady Hokage."

She entwined her fingers and rested her chin on her fingers, her expression reading surprised. He had not ever asked her for anything since his trial and she never expected to ever hear a request from him at any time. She thought of Sasuke only as an anbu member. "Mmm. Yes I do know her condition, Uchiha. I'm surprised you even showed your face here."

"It's not about me, Lady, I want Sakura's jobs to at least be cut in half. After her episode last night she needs all the rest she can get." She nodded along with his points with a slight smirk on her face.

"And why in the hell do you care so much?"

"As her former team-mate, I-"

"Cut the bullshit Uchiha. Give me your real motives and I'll have a new Doctor to take some of her shifts."

The two stared at each other briefly, both with stern eyes that did not want to budge from each other.

"She's the surrogate mother of my child. I'll be damned if she falls ill and loses the child because of being over-worked." He stated, his brow twitching to go down and look angry just like the way he felt but ever since his return to the village he lost his high standings with her.

She scoffed. "I'll keep my end of the deal, but I'm curious. Pregnant women get over worked a lot of the time and oftentimes end up the way Sakura was last night. It will not bring harm to the baby whatsoever. Are there underlying motives to this..?"

She never got an answer because Sasuke swiftly turned away and was out of the door in a flash.

* * *

_You guys can only guess what the hell Sasuke's thinking and why he's thinking that C: So I've seen a lot of you want more SasuSaku but I sincerely just needed to build it up because like I stated in the description it was eventual. I didn't want to just throw the love in there already because reasons. _

_News flash: My cousin from across the country is coming to visit me tomorrow! I haven't seen him in six years! Can you believe that?! So if I don't manage to get a chapter uploaded tomorrow it's my sincerest apologies! It takes me a long time to get my thoughts across on this and I'm praying I have enough time before he gets picked up. Sorry in advance if it's not uploaded tomorrow! _

_WOW OMG 100 REVIEWS! THANKS SOOOOOOOO MUCCCHHHHHH! OHSOBLUE is the 100th reviewer and I thank you so much for it! But of course I couldn't have done it without everyone else so from the bottom of my heart I thank you guys! And the follows and faves! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! _


	17. Chapter 17

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 17- _

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

With two weeks that had passed by so quickly, Sasuke decided to take a seat on his couch and crack open the book.

He picked up the book from the end table and stared at the cover for a moment, contemplating to himself whether or not it was smart to get himself worked up over knowing what was happening to her body. He shrugged and flipped the pages open until he saw the bold letters **_6 WEEKS_**.

There was a small diagram showing the approximate size of the baby around week six and it immediately got his attention. _Your baby's jaw, cheeks, chin, eyes, ears, and nose are beginning to form what will eventually become one adorable face. In addition, her kidneys, liver, and lungs are developing, and her heart is now beating 80 times a minute_. _All that, and your baby is still no bigger than the head of a nail (quarter of an inch.) _His brows furrowed at this revelation. This baby was so small - yet it had all of these features growing? A heart _that_ tiny was already pumping in their miniature chest? A small smirk found it's way to his face as he felt pride swell up in his chest. He didn't care how tiny it was, this child was already amazing.

_Your body in 6 weeks of pregnancy: Your growing uterus is beginning to push down on your bladder which will cause you to go to the bathroom much more often_. _Fatigue: Building that baby is hard work so you're going to feel exhausted. Listen to what your body is telling you - if you need a break, take one! _He smirked because this book only backed up his argument with Sakura about her being over-worked. _There will be breast tenderness and changed. Nausea and vomiting. Heartburn and indigestion. Bloating. Increased sense of smell. _

He closed the book and laid it down on the side table again, looking straight ahead with stern looking eyes. There he was, feeling bad for Sakura yet again. She was going through all of this for a child she signed away - he didn't know if that was even worth it.

He shook it off and glanced out the window, the setting sun signaled it was time for him to go. They had caught another sound nin since the first refused to give up any information and he was set to do the interrogation in an hour. He already pulled on his anbu outfit so at the moment he was currently affixing his mask to his face and when he felt like he was ready to leave, he did just so and left without saying a word.

When he arrived he was briefed on the rules he already knew of and was let into the dingy little room where the sound nin was half conscious in a large metal chair, his arms and legs strapped together by long leather belts and he was stripped of all of his weapons. He smirked behind his mask because he knew he could make this man crack.

When he left the room about an hour later, he was patted on the back by Ibiki with a large grin on his old looking face. "Good job, Uchiha. Surprising you got him talking in that amount of time." He gave him a nod and left back home.

For some reason he wasn't feeling himself. After his first Sakura dream he never felt the same and he wasn't sure why. He acted without even thinking when it concerned her and suffered the consequences when somebody called him out on it - luckily he was not yet confronted by Sakura for speaking with Tsunade about her jobs at the hospital. Not only that but he was (without knowing it) isolating himself from not his friends, but Karin. He found it quite peculiar but never questioned his own motives.

So when he carefully got into bed and Karin looked at him with that smitten look on her face he rolled his eyes. "Before you even say it - no."

"But!"

"No." He pulled the covers over his body and turned to his right side, his back facing her. He thanked his lucky stars he could fall asleep easily when he needed to so he didn't have to deal with Karin's whining.

Again he had a dream.

Yet again it was in the same hospital room, still fully adorned with gifts and flowers their friends had ambushed them with, covering almost every surface in the room. Sakura was curled up in the bed with a warm smile decorating her lips, her big green eyes half lidded and staring down into the little bundle of joy in her arms. He smiled when she cooed random little words to the child and his smile disappeared when there was a knock on the door. Sakura's brows met in the middle curiously. _Who else has yet to visit_? She questioned him and he didn't have the answer, so he turned on his heels and wrapped his hand around the doorknob.

He opened the door to come face to face with Karin who stared at him angrily with tears brimming at her eyelids then pouring over like waterfalls. _Why_?! She screeched at him as she took a threatening step forward. _Why don't you love me_?!

Startled, Sasuke slammed the door in her face, wary of his sleeping child in Sakura's arms. He looked over his shoulder at her with a guilty look on his face. She looked somewhat guilty as well but stayed quiet.

When he woke up in the morning, Karin's crimson eyes were staring at him.

"You were smiling in your sleep, then you frowned. What was going on?"

"I don't remember."

When in reality, again, he remembered the dream like it had actually happened. It turned out darker than he was used to when he had these Sakura dreams, slamming the large metal hospital door in Karin's face rather harshly. Even when he woke up he felt guilt well up in the pit of his stomach and with Karin's still confused yet curious eyes staring at him he realized something. With the constant worry of Sakura's health always on his mind, their child always on his mind, her eyes burning into him whenever they locked glances, her reoccurring in his dreams that were normally riddled with nightmares and pain there was only one explanation.

It just so happened that he loved the girl.

"I need to go buy groceries." He had to get the hell out of his house because the guilt that seemed like just a subtle feeling in his stomach was now becoming overwhelming and looking into her face did not help. He quickly got out of their bed and got changed into fresh clothes and paced over to the kitchen, leaving a confused Karin under the door frame of their room.

"We already have so much food Sasuke, what the hell else do we need?"

He opened up the fridge and eyed the small bag of tomatoes, picked it up and quietly opened up the window. He tossed the bag out the window where once he left he'd pretend he just bought when he returned. "We need more fruit." He started off down the hallway where the front door was.

"Well can I have a kiss before you leave?" He was already out the door to even hear what she said to him.

He paced through the compound and reached the main road. He didn't know exactly what it was he was going to do. He thought maybe he'd contemplate his horrible life choices he'd made, so he began to think where he could do this in peace. He slowly waked down the main road, beginning to think of where he could scorn himself. There were a few places just outside of the village that weren't known by many and he knew he wouldn't be bothered by curious genin, so he told himself that's where he'd begin walking.

That was, until, he spotted Naruto spying on somebody down the road.

He paced up beside him and looked down the road, trying to find what was so important that this dumbass would rather be watching than training. "What the hell are you looking at?"

Naruto peered up at Sasuke with a big wide grimace, pulling him behind the corner of the building as if whoever he was spying on would see Sasuke. "Sshhh. Sakura's with a guy!"

"..." Sasuke wasn't sure whether to believe Naruto so he gazed down the road and sure enough, he spotted the girl with pink hair walking beside a man with brown hair. "...Who the hell is that?"

He tried with a large amount of embarrassment to suppress his anger but Naruto could see right through it. "Chill out Sasuke, he's a cool guy."

Sasuke looked at Naruto with blazing hot eyes, feeling red hot anger surge through his core. "She can't date!"

Naruto snorted, giving Sasuke the stink eye. "Why? She's fiiinalllllllyyyyyy over you, get over it! Don't you want her to be happy?! She's put off dating for so long because of her old feelings for you!"

"But..!" Sasuke grit his teeth together and both boys stopped when two figures stood over their arguing postures.

"What are you two arguing about again?" She asked with that stupid sweet voice of hers, but Sasuke didn't even look at her, he looked at that man. That man that made him so incredibly angry he just wanted to punch him right in the face. Not just a punch from his own fist, but with Susanoo's giant fist. What he would do if he could just pummel that man down into the ground...

The next thing Sasuke had realized was that Naruto scampered off, leaving him by himself with these two.

He locked eyes with the man. He stared hot lazer's into his unsure, almost nervous grey eyes. His stupid loveless grey eyes that did NOT deserve Sakura at all! Not one bit. He didn't need to know the guys life story because he already wanted to have him six feet under. Does he know of their past? Even if it wasn't a romantic past Sasuke would still call it a past - and she was carrying his child! _His child_! Not that mans!

"Okay, eheh, well we're leaving!" Sakura stated nervously and dragged the man along with her, both seeming to be happy to be away from his heated gaze.

There he stood alone, angrier than he had ever felt in his whole life, and muttered four words with a heavy sigh. "Some woman I love.."

* * *

_aahhhhhhhh the L word has come at last! It will be more in depth tomorrow, I promise, but I needed some Sasusaku PROOF in this story somewhere so HERE IT IS. _

_Also, I'm doing this stupid thing with the dreams where the more he's liking/loving Sakura the more his dreams would portray it / whatever comes in their way. _

_Thanks for the reviews, as always! omg I just gt a review saying they're happy the love isn't rushed, I'M SORRY IF THIS IS TOO RUSHED D: _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! _


	18. Chapter 18

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 18-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

"Okay, eheh, well we're leaving now!"

Nervously, Sakura grabbed her date's arm with both of her hands and dragged him away from the heated black eyes of Sasuke. Even though she was basically immune to Sasuke's infamous death glare, she knew her date was not, so when she saw a flash of fear strike his grey eyes she deemed it the appropriate time to get the hell out of there.

They walked through the thicket of the crowds without word until it was less dense - that's when they chose to speak to one another. "So..." The man began, his face full of shock and a hint of fright. "Who were they...?" He looked to his right and down to Sakura.

Sakura groaned and her cheeks finally became an embarrassed red, smacking the right side of her face with her palm. "Ugh. They're my old team mates. Don't take them seriously."

He thickly gulped. "Well I kind of have to - that one with the black eyes is terrifying." Sakura rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"He's _not_ terrifying. Honestly, he's been using that glare to get anything he wants from people, it's over used by now. Both of my team mates are special... And not in a good way."

He chuckled lightly but still seem quite rattled up. "I'm not going to get jumped in the middle of the night by two masked men, am I?"

"No, and if they do for some idiotic reason, they'll have me to deal with." She chuckled along with him but the man could tell by her dark undertone she was being completely serious. "Well, it's almost time for my shift at the hospital." She said idly, almost completely disinterested in her date now that her 'man' was scared by her two harmless idiotic team mates.

"Yeah, and I've got to go back to cover Ino's shift at the flower shop." He stated as he scratched the back of his head with a slight worried chuckle. Sakura told herself he was not the one. She supposed she liked the type of man that was strong, not working at the flower shop. They stood there quite awkwardly, looking at the ground that had become so interesting.

"Kay, well, we'll talk later!" She stated through her teeth and mysteriously disappeared through the crowd. She clutched her purse with embarrassment that this 'date' had gone awry. She told herself she was just going to make a beeline for the hospital and not make eye contact with anybody she came in contact with.

When she reached the hospital she knew Haru wouldn't leave her alone. She did exactly that when she stepped through the doors and Haru's eyes fixed on her. "How'd your date with Isamu go?" She cooed happily as she leaned over her desk, her eyes were large with curiosity.

"Let me guess, Ino told you to set us up. He's not my type of guy." She stated lazily as she too leaned over the desk with a risen brow. "I mean come on - a guy that covers shifts at the flower shop? I like... Manly men!"

Haru puckered her lips. "But... He also works at the cute little dumpling cafe.."

She rolled her eyes even further and pushed herself away from the counter, taking a step toward the hallway where her office was. "Cute little dumpling cafe - the flower shop. No difference. I'm going to go get changed, I'll talk to you in a bit. No more setting me up with these random men." Sakura gave her a little wink and bounded off toward her office.

She pulled her lab coat over her red skirt and yellow tank top, pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail, changed her shoes, and sat at her desk. She stared at the singular folder on her desk. She scrunched up her nose and picked up the phone, immediately calling the desk. "Haru - why the hell do I only have one folder on my desk? I thought I was scheduled for a cholecystectomy at one, not this plain old check-up patient I got!"

"Ehh, sorry Sakura. There's a new doctor Tsunade hired and he's been taking on a lot of shifts and surgeries."

"What?" Sakura screeched through the phone and dented it's plastic. "Is he as qualified as I am?"

"I suppose so, I mean that's why Tsunade must have hired him, right?"

"But..." Sakura sighed and twirled the ringlet cord around her left index finger, turning her swivel chair to face the window with a defeated face. "I'll pay her a visit after this check up of mine then."

When she hung up the call she waited until a middle aged woman came for her regular check up. Everything went accordingly, she was all fine and healthy, and once she was out of her office, Sakura made her way for the Hokage's office.

She knocked a few times and was immediately let in, seeing Tsunade reclining in her chair looking almost peaceful among the stacks of paper.

"Ah, hello Lady Tsunade." Sakura greeted sweetly as she took a seat in the chair the was right in front of the woman.

"Sakura! Nice to see you. What're you here for, I thought you had work today?"

"Well, you see, I only got one patient today... For a check up. It's what I wanted to speak to you about. I hear you've hired a new doctor."

Tsunade nodded slowly with her words. "Yes, Doctor Kudara. Is she bothering you in any way?"

"No no, it's nothing along those lines. It's just she's picking up a lot of my shifts and _my_ patients. Like I said earlier, I only had one patient for a routine check up!"

"Well Sakura, working in the hospital is nothing like working the field. Sometimes it gets boring."

Sakura breathed in a long drag of air. "It was never this boring, I had patients on my waiting list, now there's nothing for me! Is there something I'm doing that you're not happy with? I'd be more than happy to change anything I'm doing.."

"What's your relationship with Sasuke Uchiha?"

"What does that have anything to do with what I'm asking..." Her eyes glazed over angrily, along with her face that went immediate darker. She grit her teeth before speaking. "What the hell did he say to you."

Tsunade smirked when she knew she plucked a sensitive cord. "It's just a question, Sakura. I can ask another one if you'd like." Sakura raised a brow. "How's the pregnancy going along?"

She let out an exasperated sigh. "I can't believe he told you! He was the one in the first place that made himself and Karin a privatized couple!"

Tsunade shrugged and pushed her chair back further against the wall so she could peer out the window. "Because he knows I wouldn't tell a soul - but I only told you because you were absolutely _prying_ the information from me about why in the world your work was cut drastically." She smirked at her old pupil. "Besides he had your best interest and the baby's best interest in mind. No harm."

"Yes harm, my work was harmed!" Sakura stood up from her chair and looked the woman dead set in the eye. "Just take that Doctor out of the hospital or at least out of my wing and let me have my shifts back. It's all I want - it's all I have with my life is my precious work!"

The Hokage merely shook her head. "He's not the only one with worries, Sakura, after that episode I've looked at your work record. Sometimes you're here for days on end without going back home. I hope you haven't been taking soldier pills. They take a toll on your body and while pregnant it could cause some serious damage to you!"

"I'm not taking soldier pills, Lady Tsunade." Sakura let out a long sigh and took a few steps backwards. "If it's what you think is most suitable for me than so be it. Thank you for having my best interest in mind."

"Hey - wait. Just listen, that Uchiha brat _never_ likes to admit his wrongs or have to ask anybody for help, right?" Sakura nodded with a puzzled expression. "Then he must care a lot about you to go out of his way in those bloody anbu clothes to demand I decrease your hours. Think about it."

Sakura stood there for a moment, contemplating what she had said. At first she was so damned angry at that man for thinking he could get all involved in her personal life and damage her job. Bringing what Tsunade said into consideration; however, made her feel a bit better, like there were people out there that were watching out for her. Normally it would have been Naruto that would have said something but as of late he's been so clueless, but with Sasuke doing the caring of their trio, she was actually pleasantly surprised.

"Thank you Tsunade."

...

When she was casually strolling down the street after her sentimental talk with the Hokage, she spotted the Uchiha listening with ennui to what Kakashi had to say with Naruto shaking his head vigorously, obviously entertained with it.

When she strolled up to the three main men in her life the mood shifted rather dramatically. Kakashi stopped whatever he was speaking about, she guessed it was a boys thing, and greeted her casually. She said her hellos then was confronted by Naruto, who looked at her with big blonde wiggly eyebrows. "How was the DATE Sakura?!"

She merely rolled her eyes. "It was hardly a date." She stated and looked at Sasuke through the corner of her eye. He never once turned his head to look at her but she could see his brows furrowed with anger.

"Did you like him?"

"No." She looked back at the Uchiha when he finally decided to show his face her way. "Can I.. Talk to you." She wrapped her hand around his bicep and pulled on it roughly, jerking her head to the side so she could speak to him privately. He just stared at her sourly. "Stop being dramatic and just talk to me."

She never witnessed Kakashi's keen eye following them as they moved behind a building so the two couldn't look at them. "Look, I'm not angry.." She started. "I just never expected you to go to Tsunade.."

"Well I'm angry." He spelled out with those angry eyes again but it did not faze her.

"Yeah I could tell from earlier... What the hell was your problem?"

"Who was he?"

"Just a guy the girls set me up with!"

"But who is he to _you_?"

"A nobody Sasuke! He was literally a man I dated just today, and I didn't even like him! What are you, my father?"

He scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I may not be your father, but I _am_ that child's father."

She snorted in return with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "And does me dating affect your child in any way?"

"I don't want you waking up my child from their nap when you're having sex with men."

"Sasuke!" She screeched, and from afar, Naruto and Kakashi watched with amazed expressions.

Even though they could hear a word the two were saying, they could see them arguing and frankly an argument between those two sent shivers down Naruto's spine. He looked up at Kakashi with a plain face. "Man, they bicker like a married couple."

* * *

_wow dialog central, I'm sorry for those people that hate really long dialog sequences, but at least next chapter will have a little time skip so we aren't stuck here. I hope you guys liked it at least? C:_

_Thanks for the reviews, they are much appreciated! Feedback is most welcome! Also a big thanks to the follows and faves! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. _


	19. Chapter 19

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 19-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

With another two weeks passing by and his child growing bigger, Sasuke took it upon himself to do a little research from his handy little book.

Cracking it open to **_WEEK 8,_** his eyes began scanning the ink. _Your baby is growing at an amazing rate — about a millimeter every day — and now is the size of a large raspberry_. His mouth opened agape and he calmly paced over to the refrigerator, throwing open the door, and kneeling so he could open up the door to the crisper. He rifled through the bags of different fruits until his fingers found the small plastic container that had raspberries in it.

"What are you trying to find?" He heard Karin from behind him ask as she leaned against the island counter. He didn't answer, instead he picked up the small container and set it upon the counter in front of her.

He opened it up, found the raspberry he wanted to show her, and set it right in front of her. "That's how big the baby is."

She stared down at the raspberry in complete awe. "This is.. How big it is already?" She picked up the little berry in between her index and thumb and brought it close to her face for further inspection. "That's amazing, wasn't it just the size of a poppy seed, like, yesterday?"

"It seems so." Sasuke stated blandly and continued reading. _The baby's lips, eyelids, nose, legs, and back are beginning to take shape. Even though you can't feel it yet, the baby is now making spontaneous movements_. _Your body in Week 8 of pregnancy: Chances are your clothes are feeling a bit tight around your tummy and you may need a bigger bra. You may start to feel queasy - but feel better knowing your baby feels just fine even though you're going through all of this. On top of this, you will start to get the following symptoms: occasional headaches, occasional faintness or dizziness, and food cravings_.

"There's an ultrasound next week, right?" Karin questioned as she pulled a small yogurt out of the fridge and stuck her silver spoon into it.

He nodded, just remembering it now they had to go to the clinic with Sakura, an angry Sakura, to look at the baby.

"Is anything interesting going to happen? I don't want to bother going if we're just gonna' look at it." She stated between mouthfuls.

He flipped the page until he hit the **_WEEK 9_** page and quickly skimmed the pages. _It's still too soon to feel anything in your belly, but you might be able to hear something at your next checkup. Try listening for your baby's heartbeat via a Doppler device — that welcome sound should be audible anytime now._

"No. Nothing interesting will happen."

...

With yet another week passing by, Sasuke found the appointment only an hour away.

He felt better knowing that Karin had no interest in that cold cold heart of hers to go see their baby, so he didn't have to end up being bothered by her complainy voice. He got ready in his bedroom, careful not to wake her up with the sliding of his drawers, and slunk out just as carefully. He had his rice centered breakfast, grabbed his little book, and headed out the door confidently.

As he slowly paced through the empty street he flipped the book back over to the **_WEEK 9_ **page to reread the information before the appointment. _Your baby, now the size of a green olive, has grown about an inch since last week. Right now, focus on foods you find less offensive (even if it's crackers, crackers, and more crackers), choosing a healthy option whenever your stomach doesn't protest (make those crackers whole grain). And don't forget to tap into the soothing power of ginger_!

Again, he could feel the pride begin to swell again. Just the thought that the baby wasn't a microscopic little thing of cells and had human characteristics amazed him completely.

The little jingle that sounded above his head alerted the receptionist that he entered the clinic, and she pointed down the hallway with her manicured index finger. "Ms. Haruno just arrived a few minutes ago. They're in Ms. Nao's office." He nodded along to her words and paced down the hallway almost nervously - he didn't know what to expect going in there!

When he entered his eyes laid upon Sakura taking a seat on the reclined pleather chair with the ultrasound equipment to her left. They locked eyes and she smiled at him as if their argument never even happened, even if she did end up punching him in the jaw. But Sasuke told himself that if she wasn't going to bring it up then he wouldn't dare.

So he closed the door behind him and idly made his way near her chair and to Ms. Nao who was busy typing random things on the grey keyboard. He pulled up a black leather chair from in front of her desk and sat back in it surveying the machine and Sakura in front of him. Sakura turned her head so she was looking straight into his eyes. "Do you know how big the baby is?" He bet she only asked that because she could see the little book he had beside his leg.

"A green olive." He had just the slightest little half smirk on his face when the words left his mouth. He just wished he could tell it to the world that his baby was indeed the size of an olive but people would seen notice the flatness of Karin's stomach, so he resisted the urge. She chuckled and toyed with the hem of her red sleeveless shirt, giving him a nod.

"It's amazing." She said gently, idly leaving her hands upon her stomach as she looked back to Ms. Nao.

"Alright, Sakura. This gel is pretty cold." Ms. Nao announced as she gripped a white plastic bottle and squeezed light blue gel all onto Sakura's flat stomach. In her other hand she held a small white transducer, ready to display the black and white image onto the rounded monitor. "I can show you both the 3D image and the regular ultrasound picture."

Ms. Nao softly placed the transducer against her stomach and began to rub the gel all around, a clear image not yet appearing on the screen. She finally began to push in a little bit harder and stopped moving the transducer so quick so an image appeared before their very eyes.

Sasuke was choked. He'd been in this state only a few times in his life and they were for all the wrong reasons but this time was a whole other story.

Ms. Nao pointed to the black and white version of the ultrasound picture to a small little nub on the bottom. "That's the little stump of a leg growing right there. And this here is a little arm!"

He didn't need to be told what those were. Those were his baby's little legs and little arms, and the comical over-sized head. It felt like it was really happening and he was finally going to have his own baby after years.

"I'm going to switch over to my 3D transducer." She stated and swapped cords with a larger silver handheld device and placed it on Sakura's lower abdomen. On the screen came a orangey-black image that showed exactly what was inside of of the pinkette.

It surprisingly left Sakura in tears. Ms. Nao questioned her motives and Sakura just shook her head, keeping her real thoughts to herself. "I just can't believe this is what's happening inside of me!" Sasuke knew better than to believe what she was sputtering out because she developed a nasty habit of not showing what was really ailing her.

There was his little baby, looking like it was resting inside of it's mother with its tiny little arms curled inside and its legs doing the exact same thing. Sakura vigorously wiped her stray tears away and shook her head. "Wow, look at that! That's a little human being!" She sniffled and looked to Sasuke for a brief moment, taking in the emotion only she could see which only made her more emotional.

Suddenly Ms. Nao turned a dial and a small but fast rhythmic heartbeat filled the room. A real live heartbeat that didn't belong to anyone in the room, but to his baby that was only the size of an olive. A little tiny olive sized heart beat producing Uchiha.

When the monitor went black he was filled with pure disappointment which Sakura could read clearly. "Sasuke, there's no need to worry. The baby isn't going anywhere." There was no hesitation when she made a friendly gesture of placing her small warm hand upon his.

Inwardly he shuddered. He used to find pure contentment when he stared into those eyes of hers, not guilt and dissatisfaction with himself and his choices. She gave him her forgiveness a few years back over his selfless and selfish acts that were inflicted on not only everybody but on her. Even as the words left her mouth he never once believed them - he wouldn't forgive somebody that neglected his attention, abandoned him, tested his ability to kill a vulnerable person, tried to kill him, then threatened to kill everyone he loved. In fact he promised himself he would never even converse with her again because he was comparable to dirt and he wasn't worth her time, yet here he was, slowly falling in love with the very woman he swore to never cross paths with again, in a doctors office where she was pregnant with his child and all he wanted was for her to be the mother.

So instead of telling her this information, he looked away from her glittering emerald eyes and to the empty screen and slowly pulled his hand out from underneath hers. "I know." Her smile never faded, but her attention turned elsewhere, beginning to wipe the gel off her stomach.

He politely waited for her to get herself cleaned up and ready to leave before quietly slipping out of the room.

* * *

_So, I'm really super sorry I didn't get this chapter out yesterday. I didn't expect my cousin to still be in the city so I wanted to spend the day and show him around. I hope you guys can understand. _

_Wow, some feelings this chapter? Their encounter is coming soon, so be prepared for actual sasusaku! _

_Thanks for the reviews and continuous support you guys have been giving me! + the follows and faces, you guys rock! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto + the book quotes are from the website WHATTOEXPECT DOT COM_


	20. Chapter 20

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 20-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Two days after that heartfelt ultrasound checkup, Sasuke was absolutely infuriated with Sakura.

Technically she did nothing 'wrong' in most peoples eyes, it was only something he could _see_ and only something_ he_ could feel.

It started when he was casually walking down the street, minding his own business when WHAM he saw it! Out of the corner of his always watchful eye, he spotted Sakura sitting with her back facing him at a small snack kiosk with two blonde's. That's not what angered him, no, it was what was in her hand. Normally he wouldn't look twice at what she was drinking but he could not look away from what was clutched in her hand.

It was a cup with a **_carbonated pop_** logo printed on its side. She giggled along with her friends and stuck the little red straw into her mouth idly and took a long sip, swallowing it without knowing he was staring at her. Was she possibly not aware that a pregnant woman should not be drinking caffeinated drinks? He mentally fought over the urge to race over there but it eventually came over too much and he stomped right on over there.

He tapped her shoulder blade with his index finger and a raised brow. She turned around and gave him a gentle smile. "Hey Sasuke." Ino and the woman Sasuke recognized from the hospital both turned around and cocked their heads at them curiously.

"Are you drinking what I think you're drinking.." He looked at her half-threateningly as he pointed to the little cup on the counter in front of her.

"What?" She asked and peered over her shoulder to see the mysterious drink Sasuke was so angry at. She let out a small hearty giggle. "No Sasuke, it's ice water."

He felt extremely embarrassed up until Ino pointed something out. "Hey - Sakura, at least he's got your best interest in mind!"

Sakura playfully rolled her eyes and looked back to Sasuke with a raised brow. "Yeah, I guess."

Later on in the day Sasuke found himself becoming an even bigger worry wart when he spotted her again. She appeared to be eating sushi at a local sushi and tea restaurant and he clearly remembered pregnant women should not eat specific fish with high amounts of mercury. He couldn't just... Walk away when Sakura could be consuming tilefish nigiri or swordfish sashimi! He dearly did not want to bug her again but the man had worries, so he began to pace over to her until Naruto ran into him on purpose.

"Hey look it Sakura!" Naruto called out, grabbing her attention at her window seat of the restaurant. The blonde grabbed Sasuke's arm and forcibly pulled him into the restaurant. "Hey Sakura, what're you eating? Can I have some?"

Sasuke focused in on the items on her square white plate and sighed a sigh of relief when he recognized the rolls. "Naruto you don't even like cucumber rolls." She raised a brow at him but still offered her plate over to Naruto who rubbed his hands together, took a seat and sucked in a few.

"Yeah, I know, but I'm suuuper hungry."

Later on in the day Sasuke finally let out a relieved sigh and told himself he had enough worrying for one day.

He stood yet again in the middle of the street, still peeved from an emergency interrogation he was called into right after Naruto gulped down Sakura's lunch, when he saw a sight for not-so-sore eyes.

It was yet again he saw Sakura with another man. It didn't help his already played with temper that the man slightly resembled the captured sound-nin that made a move on a genin squad the evening before. It didn't help with his anger - but it certainly did give him a great image of the man beaten up, swollen ad bruised strapped into a chair in an interrogation room.

From afar Sasuke stood, watching the two act all 'happy' and giggly together like two prepubescent teenagers. He felt utter disgust well up in his stomach but he took into account what Naruto had said to him - she _did_ put off her dating life because of past feelings for him and she needed to basically 'catch up', most women her age already had long term boyfriends and some even managed to get wed. He wished he could go back to a time where he wasn't so naive and for lack of a better word, stupid - a time where she still loved him. His face turned sour when he dusted those thoughts away and analyzed the man.

He simply had no idea how she could go from liking _him_ to liking_ that_. He didn't think the man was very attractive. He didn't like his baby-looking face and his dirty blonde hair that fell into his face and those boring brown eyes. Nothing about that mans face gave Sasuke any hint into telling him why Sakura agreed to go on a date with him. He wasn't that tall either, Sasuke noted. He was a few inches taller than herself which wasn't tall, at least not compared to himself. He remembered girls gushing over his own height - so again, he didn't see why in the world Sakura was with him. Also, he told himself that he did not appreciate the way that man walked. It was a cocky walk, he walked like a loser thug in the alley ways, so sure of himself.

He was so engrossed in his fuming state he did not even notice the woman walking up to him.

"Sasuke, again? What's wrong with you?" She questioned with a sassy tone, crossing her arms over her chest, her pink messenger bag thumping against her waist. It seemed she had said goodbye to the man whilst Sasuke was over thinking and spotted him among the handfuls of people.

He gave her a slight shake of his head. "He's not the one." He too crossed his arms over his chest and looked down at her with the same stoic expression everyone was used to. She rolled her big green eyes at him.

"You know, I didn't know you were an expert on such things." She heartily laughed in his direction, but not at him. "What about him makes him 'not the one?' Enlighten me."

Sasuke shrugged. It was simple for him, really, because it wasn't_ him_. "Because.." he paused for a brief moment, "he looked like a stupid little thug with a baby face."

"Don't be ridiculous, it's not based off looks you know." She rolled her eyes and serenely watched people pass by on the streets. She looked as if she had a million different thoughts running through her head and she wanted to spill them but she looked so hesitant and he wished she wasn't that way with him. "You've never even met-"

"-Then if it wasn't looks what made you like me. "

She looked up at him with inquisitive jade eyes but a warm and caring smile on her face. "You.. Are an awful liar when you're hiding something."

Sasuke snorted. "I'm not hiding anything."

"You always have and always will result to making fun of someone when you dislike them."

He shook his head. "I make fun of _everyone_."

"But resorting to calling someone you really don't know a 'stupid thug baby face?' There's something there. I can tell when you're lying and even more so when there's reasoning behind it. You're not as mysterious as you think you are." He shook his head at her stubbornly and she giggled lightly. "Then you use the 'I'm not going to reply anymore.'"

"You don't know anything about me." He felt slightly offended that she claimed to hold so much knowledge about himself when he believed she did not.

With a gentle laugh, she shook her head back at him. "I know that you love me so keep that in mind next time you try to play off your jealousy and worry." With a turn on her heels, she left him in the middle of the street with a playful smirk hanging on her lips.

* * *

_Smart Sakura is smart - Sasuke is not so smart when it comes to concealing his feelings. It'll be her chapter next so explanations will be compiled into there + HALLELUJAH the big encounter. I hope it will be a somewhat longer chapter since this one only raked in about 1400+ words, so sorry about that. I guess you can call this chapter and the next chapter a double-wamey package deal so you wont be angry with me LOL. (I'm hoping it gets more than 2500+ words, possibly even to the 3000+ if I include something I've been wanting to put in)_

_Thanks for the lovely reviews as always, I read each and every one of them with care and a tear in my eye. + you awesome followers and favers! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	21. Chapter 21

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 21-_

_rated for language / **adult themes**_

* * *

Quickly and quietly, she shuffled through the door of Ino's shared apartment with Haru and once the door closed she burst out into a fit of giggles, leaving Ino and Haru to stare at her like she was crazy. She threw her messenger bag off her shoulder and flumped onto the light blue couch with a grimace decorating her face.

"Thanks so much, Sadao." Sakura said to the same man she was just walking the streets with. He sat on the opposite couch with a smirk and nodded in her direction.

"No problem." He spoke just as Haru took a seat beside him and Ino took a seat beside Sakura. Sadao just so happened to be Haru's cousin and it worked out for Sakura perfectly. She never told them why in the world she needed to borrow about an hour of Sadao's time, she only said to trust why she needed him. "I just don't understand why we had to do that."

"It was a test." Sakura informed them, watching as Ino immediately appeared to have her interest piqued. "It wasn't on you guys, I promise."

"Then who." Ino probed and shook her friends arm, wanting all the details. Sakura knew never to leave Ino without information so she got right to the point of her experiment.

"I've had this gut feeling this... guy... has feelings for me. When he saw me with the guy you set me up with, Ino, he absolutely was not happy." It really got her thinking after the ultrasound meeting she had with him and everything came to her. All of the weird vibes she got from him at times were now hard to miss when she was specifically looking for them. He'd acted such a strange way and at first she wasn't sure if it was because he was emotional over seeing his baby for the first time but she stayed up all night nitpicking the details she'd noticed. Ever since then the signs were everywhere, written in yellow and orange like big glittery neon advertisements.

"WHO IS IITTT?" Ino had screeched, jumping up onto her knees and getting up in Sakura's face with big curious and glittery eyes. "BILLBOARD BROW HAS FINALLY GOT A MAN!?"

"That I'm not telling you, Ino. I need to make sure my assumptions are right before I go around telling people."

Ino looked like something finally dawned on her. "I know who it is." She said in a monotone voice, staring into Sakura's very being with her piercing blue eyes. "It's Sasuke."

"What?! How did you know? Is he that easy to read, other people can notice it too?!"

She vigorously shook her head. "Duh. All men are horrible at pretending they don't care. I would have said something but I didn't want to put ideas in your head."

"Oh my." Sakura grinned and laughed to herself. "Well then I have to _really_ make sure."

"Really, _really_ make sure?" Ino gasped dramatically. "And how will you do that?"

She looked over guiltily to Sadao, her face sheepish. "Well, I'll still need your help, Sadao, if you don't mind." Haru 'psh'd' and waved her hand around in the air to emphasize what she was going to say.

"He owes me for not telling my uncle about this huge party he had at their place. If you need his assistance, he's all yours. Plus I wanna see the outcome."

"Thanks so much.."

"Kay, what's the plan." Both Haru and Ino said in unison as they leaned in close with conniving faces.

"Alright, well, tomorrow is when it will all go down. I checked the schedule earlier today for missions and he isn't listed so he should be here in the village. I'll have Naruto coax Sasuke out of the house while me and Sadao will be going out on the town."

"I know where this is going." Ino snickered and laid back. "You're gonna have this moron make a move on you in front of Sasuke."

"Genius!"

"Heh. That's the plan."

"I wonder how he'll react. Boom, boom! He'll knock your ass out Sadao!"

"Why am I doing this then...?"

"Because it's funny."

"I didn't actually volunteer for this..."

"I promise he wont hurt you." Sakura lightly chuckled. "He'll be more mad at me than anything."

...

It was the day.

Sakura stalked her way over to Haru and Ino's apartment early in the morning before she knew Sasuke would venture out with Naruto and plopped herself down upon the couch. She was lucky enough to have the now regular morning sickness just pass as she made her way out of her door, so when Ino looked curiously out of her bedroom door, Sakura laughed.

"Shouldn't you be sick or something? Plus how early is it?" She struggled to drag her feet out of her room, pulling her housecoat closer to her body, and craning her neck to get a glance at the clock above the kitchen archway. "Whyyy?"

"I didn't want to risk Sasuke being awake and seeing me so I got here when I woke up." She confessed and stood up from the couch. "I hope you don't mind." Ino shrugged and laid down on the couch with her eyes glued to the ceiling. Sakura paced into the kitchen and rifled through the cabinets, pulling out a white porcelain plate. She undid the tie of the multi-grain bread bag and pulled out two fresh slices, immediately popping them into the toaster. She waited a couple of minutes, tapping her foot in the process until her break appeared at the top with a loud pop. The fridge door opened by her hand and out of it came a small tub of cream cheese, something Sakura normally never ate because she never enjoyed the consistency.

So Ino was surprised when Sakura sat down next to her with a plate with two pieces of toast lathered in thick cream cheese. Especially when she took a large chomp out of it without even wincing. Normally even Ino didn't eat her toast with THAT much cream cheese but Sakura was just scarfing it down.

Ino continued to just sit there with her housecoat pulled closely to her body, not minding that her best friend was pigging out.

About fifteen minutes later Haru woke up to the noise of her friends laughing in the living room, trying to quiet themselves, so she left her room to join the fun.

An hour after that Sadao showed his face to the apartment looking somewhat hung over and Sakura grimaced. The more crappy he looked the more Sasuke would react and that's exactly what she wanted. The three females greeted him over their shoulders as he drug his feet into the kitchen and pulled out the white and red carton of milk.

When he took a seat, Ino pulled out her cell phone and handed it to Sakura, all the girls nodding in silent support as the phone began to dial up Naruto's house phone.

"Muuugh... Ino? Why're you calling me?" Naruto whined quietly into the receiver of his home phone, sounding exactly like he just crawled out from his blankets.

"Naruto, it's me, Sakura! I thought you were going to hang out with Sasuke today? It is the anniversary of..." Sakura panicked because whatever excuse she had in her head slipped away from her worry. "...The anniversary of.. Sasuke's court trial decision!" Naruto would never put two and two together so she hoped her string of lies worked.

"Whaaaa-?" He murmured and sounded like he fell out of the bed.

"Naruto! You said you'd hang out with him today because I was going to try and make it with you guys..!" The panic returned when Naruto sounded like he didn't want to do it anymore.

"Yeah yeah I'll grab him soon.. Waaah, I could still be sleeping right now."

"Okay, sorry, bye Naruto!" She quickly shut the phone and handed it back to Ino. "We just have to spy around the streets, make sure Sasuke is with Naruto, then me and Sadao take to the streets."

Ino giggled rather maniacally. "This is evil. Soo evil, but I love it."

...

Waiting behind the corner of an alleyway, Sakura's big brilliant green eyes sparkled dramatically. "There, they're right there, walking!" She pointed her finger around the corner when she saw the head of black and the head of blonde hair walk among the crowd. Ino, Haru, and Sadao's head popped around the corner to get a good look and all nodded to each other. "We need to get in front of them, let's go through the alley way."

All four quickly shuffled through the alley ways, their eyes on the narrow exit in front of them, the sunlight pouring in through the crack above them, creating a streak of light running across their faces. Sakura dusted herself off, grabbed Sadao's hand, and proudly left the alleyway with the man in tow, just for her former team mates to see her emerge from the dirty alley.

In the distance, she could hear Naruto say something to Sasuke along the lines of: "I wonder what they were doing in there, ehehe." Even though Naruto had no idea what she was doing, his help was appreciated - especially when he said things like that to rile Sasuke up.

Sakura was pretending like she was innocent with the guy Sasuke deemed as 'not the one,' holding his hand, giggling at whatever he said, regardless of if it was funny or not. She wanted to know the truth so bad - if Sasuke was being an over-reacting over-bearing daddy to be or if her emotions were manifesting in her brain and making up fake things she saw or if he truly did harbor feelings for her.

They sat down underneath a large awning of a little cafe as a waitress saw them and immediately brought them glasses of ice water. Out of the corner of her eye, after the waitress left, she could see a giggly looking Naruto and a steaming Uchiha. _Maybe my acting isn't as bad as I thought it was_. She giggled to herself and brought the glass of water to her mouth, taking a small sip. She witnessed them taking seats outside of a tea house across the street for reasons she could only guess. Either Sasuke demanded they stay there or Naruto was in the spying mood - either one she was getting thrilled over.

She and Sadao idly chit-chatted over random topics, both attentions were somewhat off, Sakura was still glancing over to Sasuke and Naruto, while Sadao looked unusually quiet and somewhat distraught after he saw Sasuke sitting across the street. When their food arrived she happily chowed down on her Chazuke like never before while her male date was poking at his Kayu like he lost his appetite.

Her eyes flashed and she stared right into his eyes. "Sadao." She whispered, weary of her team mates presence. "I think he's riled up enough, we need to do the finale soon." He nodded to her words and she noticed how pale he began looking. "No need to be scared."

They paid the bill and stood up, acting like they had never laid eyes upon Sasuke or Naruto. They exchanged a few words, had Sadao wrap his arm around her waist, and were off into the streets.

They strolled along, not without a direction, but the plan was to walk to her own apartment, have Sadao place his hands on her body where Sasuke would NOT want to see them and watch the show. Whenever they rounded a corner she'd see that head of black hair and her smirk would widen across her face. She didn't like toying with people but this was a new side to Sasuke! She was just too damned curious and couldn't let this opportunity slip from her fingers.

Her apartment complex was in view with the steps that led up to her large red door. She turned her head to Sadao and gave him a small nod. "It's time, that's my apartment, number four. That's where we'll do the.." Her face grew red. "Yeah, you know what we discussed."

He gave her a nod and a nervous smirk. "Here goes nothing." They continued down the street until they reached the bottom of the stairs leading up to her door. When she could see Sasuke, and only Sasuke, she guessed he had ditched the blonde in the crowds.

She made eye contact with Sadao which initiated the final act of their plan: Put the moves on Sakura.

His arm was already around her waist and his hand was naturally resting on the top of her hip, but Sakura didn't think that was enough to work up Sasuke. She took a step forward into his arms and his sneaky hands found her way to her bottom - the first step. She motioned her head to the right, toward the door, and he nodded to her.

They began to quickly walk up the steps insinuating they were going to hook up when they were so rudely interrupted.

Like Haru, Sadao was never enrolled into the academy. Their family weren't known clans, they didn't have any kekkei genkai nor affinity to one of the elements. He was just a regular man that had a job as a waiter, so he was was not light on his feet nor swift. So naturally he didn't step away when the much taller man appeared, towering over their bodies and pushing him away from herself.

"Sasuke!" Sakura screeched as she threw her hands up between them, Sadao stumbling back with a surprised face. She took a cautionary step in between the men and snapped her head toward Sasuke. "What the hell was that?" She only half expected Sasuke to physically get involved but she decided to hide it with an angered facade.

He merely looked at her with a flustered angry face and his eyes read 'what the hell is he doing back here with you?' He looked back to the obviously scared Sadao and Sakura began to tug on his rolled up black sleeves and used her monster strength to push him through the door she quickly opened and slammed it closed.

"Thanks so much, but in your best interest you need to leave." She held her hands to the door forcibly with a smile. "Thanks again."

In a flash, she opened the door and slid in through the crack, immediately closing it behind her. Sasuke stood in the middle of the living room visibly fuming with his arms crossed over his chest his face all screwed up.

"What the heck was that, Sasuke?"

"You were doing all this to get on my nerves!"

She tapped her foot against the carpet flooring. "I was doing it because he called me back and I would have felt rude to say no." He shook his head at her and angrily paced around until he reached the kitchen.

"No, you make up ridiculous excuses when you don't want to do something, don't act dumb." She tailed right behind him.

"Sasuke!" She whined dramatically as she leaned against one side of her kitchen counter while Sasuke leaned against the parallel countered wall. "What has gotten you so worked up? You never open to anyone."

"Since you know me _so well_ and you're _so smart_ I thought you'd have figured it out."

"You are so frustrating! Why can't I have a social life?! Am I not aloud to be happy? You have a wife!-"

She always had different plans worked out in her head and what the consequences would be and/or the problems that could happen. She was a doctor after all, so expecting different outcomes is something she always had on her mind. When she signed those papers to be a surrogate she expected the outcome to be one of three things. 1) She hands a healthy baby over to Sasuke. 2) She hands over a baby born with a defect and never be forgiven. 3) She doesn't get to hand over a baby because it never got the chance to live. She never expected the fourth outcome; however, because when Sasuke left her back in their younger years she thought it was impossible. That fourth possibility turned out to be discovering Sasuke's true feelings and rediscovering her own buried ones.

She knew the fourth possibility was the one that was going into effect when the considerable distance between their lips was closed in a flash.

They both pulled away on impulse, Sakura looking down at the tiles beneath her feet for a moment before staring back up into his obsidian eyes. Acting on more impulse they dove back into each others arms with such teenage giddy, they both didn't have the time to even think about what they were doing. They were at each others mouths again, making up for all of the kisses that could have been shared through the years.

The fact that this man had a wife didn't even factor in when they shared their passionate kisses, in fact, it was embedded somewhere deep in a locked box never to be found again.

So when they tore at each others clothing articles she felt no remorse whatsoever, only long since forgotten passion. She ran her fingers through his locks and he picked her up gently and sat her bottom onto the counter, still connected to each other.

Naturally they did whatever couple's did to show their love to each other. 

* * *

_-whispers- they did it._

_Thanks for the reviews and follows and faves! Keep them coming pls+thanks_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	22. Chapter 22

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 22-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Sakura awoke in the morning normally and naturally. There wasn't a pager blaring into her ears for her to get up and hurry into the hospital, there wasn't a Naruto bursting through her door and there wasn't a Haru who was calling both of Sakura's phones. Sakura smiled to herself and thought about how peaceful it was with the sun peeking through the crack between her linen curtains and the calm chirping of little yellow birds perched at the outside of her window. Turning over so she lay on her back, she realized she was not alone in her room like she normally was every morning. With a memory flashing before her eyes, she looked over to her left with horrified eyes and saw _him_ there.

Her whole body went rigid as the entire happenings of last night rolled through her head and her mouth grew wider, her hand smacking her face as she realized what exactly she had done.

She, Sakura Haruno, had slept with a married man. She was going to be pegged for life! She sat up with straight with her ahnds covering her face that was full of embarrassment and a bright red, her eyes brimming with tears. _I'm a..._ The words were caught in her throat and her tears began to spill over without warning, dripping against the soft cotton duvet cover.

She felt the bed rustle but didn't bother to move to face the man. "What's wrong?" She heard him question her with real worry laced in his voice and she grew downright angry.

"You have a wife!" Sakura cried out loudly, bunching the blanket in her balled fists, her face wet with everlasting tears. "That's what's wrong! I'm.. I'm a homewrecker! A homewrecking bitch that sleeps with married men!" She flew out of her bed and stood on the hardwood flooring of her room, feeling lucky enough that she awoke with a nightie on her naked body. She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest.

He watched her with somewhat distraught eyes, not entirely sure what to think about. She did bring up a valid point, a point that he never once thought about until the tears rolled down her cheeks. "Sakura..."

Her body trembled with the ugly sobs she emitted, viciously wiping her tears away from her face with the back of her hand. "Please.." Her trembling voice sent shivers down his spine and he couldn't bear to look at her. "Please, I can't have you here right now..."

He already left her bed as the words came out of her mouth and said nothing as he left and she prayed it was because he understood what she was feeling.

...

The walk of shame. That's what Sasuke was telling himself as he quickly and quietly left her apartment, making damned sure not one soul saw him. When he sneakily reached the Uchiha compound his mind went blank. He himself couldn't even comprehend what it was that happened. First he was so incredulously angry at Sakura for seeing that dumbass again then the next thing he knew they had slept together.

He stood at the front door of his home that he felt like he never wanted to return to but hesitantly, he drug his feet to the front door and wrapped his large hands around the doorknob. With his free hand he rifled through his pocket and fished out the key that belonged to the lock and let them meet, filling his ears with the loud unlock of the door.

He stepped into the eerily quiet home and gently closed the door behind him, weary of the most likely sleeping Karin in the bedroom. He was hoping she was sleeping but as of late she'd been waking up a little after he usually did, which was odd because Karin was never ever a morning person. When the sound of a Shoji opened he knew he was most likely done for.

Footsteps sounded and the woman with striking red hair appeared before him with a puzzled expression. His body went frigid and words were caught in his throat, he knew she expected answers but he was for certain not going to give them to her until she spoke.

"Where did you go? Naruto came over here, you left with him, and now I haven't seen you since yesterday morning." Karin spoke softly with a wavering voice, on the verge of wanting to punch her husband in the face or get into his arms.

He faltered with his words in his head until they came naturally to him. "While out with Naruto I was asked for an emergency retrieval and interrogation."

She seemed to calm down, her posture going back to it's slightly slouched position. She walked into her arms, cocked her head, and took a step away from him, her whole body stiff as a rock. "I smell a woman."

Shivers ran through his veins and he could feel the stinging feeling of the blood leaving his face. He knew it was wrong, so wrong to keep this from her. He committed a horrible act of adultery that was unforgivable, especially since he was taught to never ever treat a woman in this fashion. He cursed to himself. His mother and father must be absolutely furious with him.

"I had to retrieve an anbu team member."

Her eye twitched. "Perfume is prohibited when you're on a mission."

"She's new to the team." He stated as his heart raced a mile a minute, forcing himself to keep the little jitters away from her vision. He couldn't tell her, not now. "She's been reprimanded for the multiple violations."

He couldn't bear to look her in the eyes, so he stared down the hallway just past her. She didn't deserve this horrible thing he did to her. It wasn't like their marriage was beautiful and blissful but no man should ever bed another woman then lie about it. He never liked the thought of Karin leaving him for another man but he sort of wished she would cheat on him, just once, so maybe he could feel better.

"Good." Karin snickered and walked into his chest, wrapping her arms around his figure tightly. "Take a shower, I don't like this smell." She smiled at him and pat him on the chest.

He gave her a nod and began to walk down the hall, into their bedroom, grab his fresh clothes, then make his way into their bathroom to start the shower. He let the cold water slowly turn into the boiling hot water, believing maybe he'd feel better in his own body if he could get her smell off his skin. He stepped in and his feet already began to burn with the thin layer of steaming water collecting on the bottom of the tub and as he fully stepped into the harsh boiling bullets. All over, his skin began to turn red with heated ache, begging him to let the cold water invade but he never let his hand touch the silver dial. He cautiously ducked his head under the water until it was completely soaked and ran his fingers through it. He eventually grew used to the water and let himself continue with his shower routine.

...

She sat on her bed, keeping her towel close to her body. It's fluffy plush feeling made her sore body and scorched skin feel better. Across from her was her large mirror where she could see her whole self. Guilt was written on her face. Her eyes were swollen and red from the tears she cried after he had left. Her hair was still soaked and in a lump, hanging off her right shoulder. With her left hand she touched her neck and hissed to herself, her heart beating when she touched a small dark mark. _Why would he do that_. She shook her head and stood up.

She told herself she was done with crying for today. If she stressed too much about this it would be harmful to the baby. Sakura let the towel drop to the hardwood floor to change herself into her clothing.

...

After his shower, Sasuke changed into his clothes and paced into the kitchen. He stood there for a moment, trying to figure out where Karin had left to until he heard her in the living room. He quietly stood in the archway to the living room until she noticed him. "Sasuke, let's read this baby book. I never get to spend time with you."

He gave her a nod and calmly sat down on the couch, watching her take the book from the end table and curl up at his side. She snuggled until she found her right place and opened up the book. "So about ten weeks, right?"

"Mm." He nodded and wrapped his arms around her, not that it made him feel a whole lot better.

"Okay." She flipped the pages until her eyes fell across the words _**WEEK 10.**_"Let's see here... Your baby is now the size of a prune! Oh wow! Okay, it has small indents on its legs where it's soon to be ankles will be. Not only that, but your baby has elbows that can bend now! Inside the baby's gums, little baby teeth are beginning to form. Their stomach and kidneys are beginning, and if the baby is a boy, the testes are making testosterone." She looked up to Sasuke. "There's so much going on already, that's amazing."

"Hn." Of course he was inwardly amazed. It seems with each passing day his child is growing more and more brilliant and his patience for waiting for this baby was dwindling.

"The rest is boring." She stated dully, tossing the book to the other side of the couch. It wasn't boring for him, but to each their own. "When do we get to learn the gender?"

"Six weeks." She gasped loudly.

"Wow! Do you want it to be a surprise or do you want to know what it is right away?"

He shrugged. "I'd rather not waste my time buying unisex items when we could just buy the proper things."

She huffed, blowing her bangs up off her face. "I guess, but it would be fun betting on what we get."

"Then we don't have to know."

"Yeah but now that I think about it, I don't want to waste my time painting a nursery a yellow room if we get a girl, I'd want her room to be pink. And buying little sheets for the crib, I'd want them specific to what the baby is.."

He knew this conversation would carry on for a long time.

...

Sakura sat on her couch in deep thought.

She had really fucked up her life. When he came back to Konoha and was sentenced to sealed chakra and one year house arrest she promised herself he was nothing more than an old team mate. She had no ties to him anymore and as the years passed life began to get back to normal. She admitted that after she convinced herself that she herself would kill Sasuke all those years ago she was never really the same. But now that their lives would be tied together forever the feelings she kept under lock and key were being broken into and nothing could stop it.

With her hands on her belly, she truly hoped this tern of events would not come back around on her.

* * *

_Not as long as last chapter, but hey, it's a chapter! The aftermath of the sexy times leads Sakura and Sasuke to be two very guilty people. _

_I wanna take a tally on who many people want/think it will be a girl, and the people that want/think it will be a boy! It's already planned out for me, but I'm suuuuper curious what people have in mind! _

_Note: It would be super easy if I could update not every day, but every other day. I know that you guys have become hooked to my everyday updates and I brought it to you guys because when I started this story I was on Spring Break, so I had nothing better to do. Now I'm back at school and two months until I graduate so there's a lot of preparation and assignments I have to do. I'm not a good student so it's not like it's going to majorly affect this story lol. I also have a youth group on Thursday nights (like tonight for me) that I go to, so I have a small margin of time to get a chapter up and ready, so please bear with me if Thursdays end up being stupid :)_

_THANKS SO MUCH TO **CRAZYMEL2008** FOR THE 150TH REVIEW! + My followers and faves! Love you guys!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! _


	23. Chapter 23

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 23- _

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Week 12

Two weeks had passed since that day. Two completely agonizing weeks.

She never told Haru nor Ino her findings with her little game she played that day, no matter how many times her phone rang, her cell phone vibrated, or the knocks that sounded at her door, her lips stayed sealed. She couldn't imagine what those two would say to her.

So instead she continued with her regular routine. Quickly getting into the hospital with Haru noticing, dealing with her few patients, getting bugged by Naruto then persuaded into lunch, slipping out of the hospital and making her way back home. Never once did she lay eyes on Sasuke and in her opinion she thought it would be best to let what they did settle under the dust. Not that is was something that was easily forgotten, but it was something she wasn't too keen on thinking about when she spoke to people. Especially people she didn't like to keep secrets from.

Sakura just barely slid in through her apartment door when she spotted the infamous long ponytail that belonged to Ino and furiously turned the lock. In a moments notice there was loud banging on the door with the woman's furious fists followed by her loud thundering voice. "Sakura, I know you're in there! Open up!"

"Eep!" Sakura tried to stay as quiet as she could but the pounding persisted. She turned on her heels and padded over to her bedroom quickly, closing the door with her bum before seeing it. It seemed outside Haru had climbed the large windy vines that were decorating the entire apartment and was peering into her room.

"Sakura! Let us iiiin!" She cried out enthusiastically and Sakura rushed over to the window, grabbing a fistful of curtain and closing them in her face.

"I can't catch a break with these women!" Sakura sighed and let her head hang back and her eyes droop down. Keeping a secret this large was really taking a toll on her and she knew she couldn't have that when her body was already being weighed down and she couldn't keep any food down. She set her messenger back down onto her bed and flopped onto her bed, hearing the sound of Ino's insistent knocking made her smile just a little bit.

She pried off a sandal with one foot and with her bare foot, used it to get the other sandal off her other foot. Her eyes wandered the room aimlessly until it set upon a shelf with many different sized books. It was a shelf of books she had been planning on reading. There was one with a leather spine that stood out particularly to her. It was an old herbal medicines book she picked up Iwagakure, and although she already had a hefty amount of herbal medicines knowledge she was not practiced in the medicines commonly used in the Land of Earth. God forbid she was sent on a mission to the land and did not know how to use their treasured remedies.

Slowly she sat up from her bed and paced over to the wall. She lifted her hand and stroked the soft leathery spine and pulled it from between two books, holding it in her hands. There was something about holding an old used book in her hands that made her feel all giddy and excited to read its words. She opened her bedroom door and set the book down on her couch. Now in the kitchen, she began to make herself a nice cup of tea. With her tea ready and the book on her lap, she was ready to learn.

That was until the knocking sounded at her front door once more. Her face scrunched up angrily but she tuned it out and flipped open to the first page of the book. It spoke of the different plants and herbs that were native to the Land of Earth and where in the region they could be found. It was pages and pages of different leaves and what properties they held, the berries and what to mix with them, and then the different medicines to make with what was listed.

She took a long calming sip of her drink and the rushed knocks died down slowly. She grimaced to herself. So calming that tea was she did not notice the window sliding open.

"Sakura!" She heard her name be called by not Ino's voice nor Haru's voice so she quickly snapped out of her bliss and craned her neck around to the window.

"What the hell? Why are you here?" She stared at Sasuke with a inquisitive look and slowly placed her tea down on the glass side table, all the while closing the book shut.

"Why weren't you opening the door?" She sighed and rubbed her face with her hands.

"Because Ino and Haru have been after me and I'm not in the mood to talk to them." To be honest she wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone and he definitely was not somebody she was thrilled to see.

"Why?"

"If they were your best friends you'd be sick of them too. Think of them as Naruto. Anyways, why are you here?"

"Well I thought something happened to you since you weren't opening the door." He replied, still standing in front of the window.

"Ah." She went back for her tea because her nerves definitely needed some calming. "We need to talk so I'm glad you showed up."

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him cross his arms over his chest without saying a word. "Just sit down already." She instructed him and slid the book off her lap and onto the open seat beside her. She wanted him to sit across from her so she could look him dead straight in the eyes. Still with silence he made his way over to the antique chair and took a seat. He did not dare look in her eyes. "I know you know what I want to talk about, Sasuke."

"Hn."

"I don't know what's going on, Sasuke, honestly. And I can't - I can't keep walking around with a secret like this! And it's not just the secret part that I don't like, I don't like the feeling of knowing_ you_ cheated." She portrayed a lot of emotion in her eyes in hopes that Sasuke would open up and do the same. "But then again I don't know if I'm the first or the last."

He sat there in silence, contemplated what to say. His brows furrowed slightly when she said her last sentence. "You're the first and will be the last."

"How can I be so sure of that Sasuke?" He had such a dirty look on his face and she just wanted to laugh because in her heart she knew exactly why. He was never a man of words so she wanted to pry. "Hell, there are many girls around here you could have been with."

He scowled her direction with a faint shake of his head. "That's ridiculous."

"It's not ridiculous, you're just embarrassed." She stated and took a sip of her tea. "I want to hear from your mouth what this is all about."

Silence. "If you just brush this under the carpet and we try and forget about it then that will put stress on me. If that puts stress on me then that wont be good for the baby. Tell me for the baby."

"Then what is the exact answer you want from me."

"Why did you cheat on your wife with me. Your wife of three years, practically destroying a marriage of_ three years_!"

"It's not destroying a marriage if the underlying concept of marriage was not present in the first place."

She blinked and thought about what he had said for a moment. "What do you mean by that?" She wrapped her fingers around her warm cup finding comfort in the now chilly room from the left open window.

"I never loved her and she is just infatuated. It's a marriage based off nothing."

"Sasuke.." She trailed off and stared down at the carpet beneath his feet. Her lips twitched with words she wanted out but couldn't find the right way to say them. She took a sip of her tea and took a deep, silent breath. "Then why stay with her."

He seemed a tad hesitant. "Because I didn't want to be alone forever."

_You wouldn't be alone if you stayed with me_. She thought as she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin upon her knees. _You wouldn't be alone if you hadn't isolated yourself from me for those first few years_. "You would never be alone here, Sasuke."

"I already told you I don't want those girls-" She shook her head at him.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what?"

She breathed out through her nose and averted her eyes. She liked playing with him when he didn't want to admit something but when the tables were turned she did not want it. "If you had stayed in the village in the first place you wouldn't have burned your relationships in the first place. If you hadn't cut me out when you came back, you wouldn't be alone!" There, she said it.

So it was a call to say things could get personal. "I know I shouldn't have left. Or cut you out. When we were younger I used to think I'd marry you."

Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her jaw dropped. _What did he just say_?! "What? Since when?!" She felt like her younger self wanted to break through the time gap and screech as loudly as she could have but the only emotion she felt was surprise, anger, and sadness.

"I don't remember."

There could have been a lot less complications if he didn't leave the village and stuck with his gut feeling, at least that what Sakura thought. "Sasuke..." She let out a long sigh and shook her head. "I just don't understand why."

"I attempted to kill you, don't you remember that? I tried to kill Naruto. I made a pledge to kill _everyone_ in this village, and you think I'd come back and expect something from you?"

"No... But if you just talked to me..!"

"Sakura I didn't want to talk to anyone, let alone you of all people."

"Why?"

"Because I never had the slightest hope that you still had feelings for me, so I didn't want to bother."

"Don't be so daft. My feelings for you weren't just little girl crushes, even if most of the time they seemed like it. You knew it too." He shrugged at her words. "You were just too embarrassed to come up to me.. I loved you." More silence on his part. "I still do."

"Now what." He said.

"Say it back or get out of my house."

He looked taken back but drew in a breath with a defeated expression. "I suppose I've always loved you."

She smiled because those words were what she'd been waiting for for so many years. So many terrible years of loving a man that she thought would never ever give those back to her. She smiled because she was one of the only people that could make him admit his feelings. She had to give it to Tsunade, she had guessed it all that while ago when her work at the hospital was basically diminished. He was only committing acts of true love through her three months of pregnancy without her even giving it second thought.

"You're going to have to dissolve your marriage with Karin." She stated as she took her last sip of tea and placed it down on the end table. "Or else this isn't going to work."

"It isn't going to be that easy, Sakura."

"All you have to do is serve her with papers and go to the Hokage for it!"

"Naruto is being appointed Hokage soon, soon enough that I can't go to Tsunade regarding divorce papers." He stated, making her jaw drop once again. "Naruto would never let me divorce his 'only family.' And I'd have to make Karin hate me or she'd never sign the papers. Nobody would be able to force her."

"So it will be a somewhat long process." Sakura sighed and leaned her head back. "I guess... I wouldn't feel as bad knowing your marriage would end.."

"Nobody can know, Sakura. None of your little friends."

"I know, I know. They talk too much."

"If Karin catches wind she would not care if you're pregnant or not."

A cold chill went down her spine. _She's nuts! Or, am I nuts for loving a married man_? "I understand... But is Naruto really being appointed Hokage? How do you know and I don't?"

"Specific team of anbu members were requested to guard the mansion for the ceremony. I'd guess Tsunade will have to tell you soon."

"Ah." They sat there quietly staring at each other, unsure of what to say. "Well.. I'm glad we got this off our backs, then." He gave her an infamous half smirk and she ended it with a chain of laughs she couldn't suppress. She wanted to curl up on his lap and laugh all those years worth of fighting down the drain but she had absolutely no energy to do so. So she stared at him with loving glimmering eyes. "I missed you Sasuke."

* * *

_omg it happened! The truth is out! It's now operation : make Karin hate Sasuke so he can get to loving Sakura! Anyways, hope you guys aren't disatisfied with the turnout of this chapter. I try to write to please my reviewers but sometimes I just can't because it will stray away from what my whole plan was.  
PS. I'm sorry to the people that are mad (or not) about Karin being left in the dust. It's not that I hate her THAT much, but I mean I built it as a crappy relationship anyways so she should be used to this lol. There are tons of cheaters without remorse and if they love someone then nothing will get in their way of loving them to their fullest, at least in my opinion. So it's not like Sasuke will forever be cheating on Karin._

_Also, as for the length of the chapters, sorry again. I have a story where I would write agonizingly long chapters and I ended up not finishing that story because it became too much for me to bear. (it sucks because it was about my favorite couple). I would love to write breathtakingly long chapters but for me, even just writing 2000+ words is a long time because I thoughtfully research stuff and plan things accordingly. If I wrote long chapters it would take much longer than 1-2 days to put out there. _

_Thanks for the reviews! Last chapter had the most reviews I've ever received! 17 WHOLE REVIEWS! Wow! Thanks a lot you guys, can we beat the record? lol. Also big thanks to the followers and faves, and whoever added it into the community!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	24. Chapter 24

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 24-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

It had been a few days since the air was cleared about the romantic night they shared together. They seemed to talk about every thing as if they were friends that had not seen each other in many years. Almost everything of value and interest was shared between the two but it seemed the only topic that should have been brought up had not been.

After a close inspection of her usually petite flat body she noticed something of great importance. It was old news that her breasts had grown substantially, that she never cared to look at in the full length mirror in her bedroom. With only her undergarments on, she circled her abdomen with her index finger lightly. She was wondering for a few weeks now when this little baby was going to show its presence to the world, and there it was. It was small, yes, but expecting parents would notice the difference with just a glance. It wasn't the change in her body that they failed to speak of, it was the baby itself.

Legally the baby belonged to Sasuke and Karin. Legally, Sasuke and Karin could divorce but with her signature on those pesky documents that entitled her the mothering rights to this baby, neither Sakura and Sasuke could stop her from taking this to the court for shared custody. It worried her to no end. She couldn't stop anything because she knew what she was getting into but she had no idea she would get into Sasuke during this whole ordeal. She wasn't even sure if she did end up really getting together with Sasuke if she could legally be a mother to the child, that is if Karin stepped up to the plate and took the child. Knowing Karin, Sakura thought it was a high chance.

With a hop in her step, Sakura pulled the pastel yellow tank top of her her head and again peered into the mirrors reflection, smiling as she did so. She wanted to show this baby bump off to the world starting from tight tank tops.

She managed to avoid Haru and Ino up to this point but today was such a beautiful day and her mood had been boosted from speaking things over with Sasuke that nothing could get her down. She finished dressing, took her purse off the hook, and left her stuffy apartment.

She decided to visit Haru at the hospital. So she happily walked down the street, smiling and waving to everyone she knew and threw open the doors to the hospital, seeing Haru's widening eyes.

"Finally, you hermit! Where have you been?" She cried out to her friend from behind her desk, shoving a mouthful of rice and mysterious topping into her mouth. "Jeez it's been so long."

She pranced up to the reception desk and gave her a sheepish smile. "Sorry Haru - being a surrogate is a lot of work. Some of the days I'm so sick and the others I'm too tired to leave the house, and the meetings!" She said dramatically with a playful smile, making Haru grimace along. "They're so long, and... A-and..."

She cupped her mouth and nose with both of her hands and took a step back. "What are you eating?" It smelled like rotting fruit that had been left out in the baking desert heat for months mixed with decomposing flesh. "Y-you're sick, Haru!"

"Wha?" She questioned with a frantic face and stared down at her food dish. "It's just.. Rice and curry sauce, with tonkatsu. We always shared the large servings together!"

Sakura furiously shook her head as her eyes watered, looking like she was about to throw up. "I - I need to leave, that stench is going to kill me!" In a hurry, she dashed out of the doors and breathed in the fresh air. She breathed in the longest breath she'd ever taken in and let it out slowly, feeling her churning stomach beginning to calm down a little bit. She placed her right hand on her belly and closed her eyes. "Take it easy on me little baby."

She lost the pep in her step but it was still a gorgeous day out and nothing could ruin it. So she wanted to head to the flower shop and see if Ino was picking up her mothers shifts like usual. She pushed open the glass door and the little bell above the door alerted the woman behind the desk. It was Ino's mother, who turned around and gave Sakura a warm smile.

"If you're here for Ino, she's in the back sorting out the barrels." She told her and motioned toward the wooden door behind the desk. "I hear you two haven't seen each other in a while!"

"Yeah, I've been so busy lately I haven't gotten the chance to hang out with my friends! Thank you, Mrs. Yamanaka." She gave a curt bow to the woman and opened the door to the large back room of the flower shop. She always loved this room because the ceiling and back walls were made of glass and had tiny vines crawling up the sides. With the flowers Sakura always thought it seemed so magical.

"Sakura!" A screech echoed through the glass room from behind large plants that shielded Ino's face but Sakura could only guess from past experience that she was angry. Stomping sounded into her ears until a flash of purple and platinum blonde hair looked her straight in the face. "What the heck! I thought we were best friends!"

"Sorry - it's just, I've been so sick and busy-"

"-Cut the bullshit Sakura, I've seen you quickly head down the opposite street when you see me around town! Tell me what happened or I swear to God.." She threatened with a raise of a singular brow and the stink eye, pursing her lips together. "I will never speak to you again!"

The pinkette sighed and took a seat at the small bistro table beside a glass panel. "Fine fine. I'm sorry Ino. This is what happened." She remembered Sasuke telling her that no one could know what happened between them. Ino stared at her from across the table with large sparkly interested eyes. "Sasuke got extremely angry at Sadao, I had to push him into my house to keep him from killing the poor guy. I yelled at him inside and he left, just like that! I haven't spoken to him since."

"Aaawwww, that shows he cares that you had a man on your arm that wasn't him! Such a shame that you two didn't immediately go at it and have hot and steamy sex." Sakura choked on her spit. "What's wrong?"

Sakura had a little fit of coughs and her face grew flustered. She waved at the air around her face quickly and shook her head. "Nothing's wrong.. I just got the mental image of that.."

"Ah, do you still have that little school girl crush?" Ino giggled and snorted. "I think you do, that's the only reason you'd have that reaction."

"Shut it, Ino pig."

"You know me Billboard brow, I never will."

As she left, she left with a little bit of embarrassment following her. She didn't want it to be obvious that her one and only crush on Sasuke was still there and stronger than ever.

She drug her feet through the streets and felt a wave of tiredness like never before. Even picking up her legs to move was becoming too hard, so when her apartment was the next building she saw she thanked her lucky lazily stuck her key into the lock and threw herself into her apartment dramatically. She shoved the door closed with her butt and let out a long sigh. She wasn't even hungry for dinner she just wanted to collapse onto her couch and sleep forever.

At first she couldn't see through her blurred vision but as she furiously blinked she caught the sight of a man in her house.

"How did you get in here." She questioned with a lazy lopsided smile.

"Spare key." Sasuke was leaning against the dining room table clad in his anbu outfit that had a few scratches on the front. It seemed he had just returned from a mission.

"Ah." She stated and hung her purse on the hook beside the door and slid her sandals off her feet, then something struck her. "Oh!" A large and wide smile decorated her lips. "I have something to show you!"

He raised a brow and she wanted to laugh because he did not notice the small bump she donned. She skipped up in front of him and turned to show him her side profile. He just stared at her, not knowing what it is she wanted. "Are you serious?" She deadpanned. "It should be the first thing you notice." He blinked a few times. "Sasuke! Haven't you been reading your little book? Women start showing around week twelve! It's almost week thirteen and there's something there! I can't believe you."

His onyx eyes averted from her face and laid upon her abdomen that was still on a side profile and furrowed his brows. He squinted a teensy bit and noticed the small swell that normally was never there on her flat stomach. He did read in his book that the baby bump started to show around week twelve to around week sixteen and he thought he'd have to wait a week or two more. Yet here it was, evidence that his child existed in the form of the swell on its mothers belly. He felt stupid thinking that the ultrasound was amazing compared to the actual thing.

"Isn't that amazing? Solid proof that this baby is growing!"

"And you've been taking those vitamins?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes I have." She rolled up her tank top to reveal the small bump and cocked her head at different angles to get a better glimpse of it. "I had a small checkup with Ms. Nao the other day and everything is fine, heart rate is normal, everything is on track."

"Why wasn't I invited?" He asked sourly, crossing his arms.

She blinked and continued to rub her belly. "Well because it would have been boring. It was only about five minutes, Sasuke. I'm sure you had better things to do." She looked over at him as she rolled the fabric back down to cover her exposed skin. "There's something else on my mind." He raised a brow. "We talked about a lot of things that day, but failed to talk about the bigger issue.. This baby."

He looked at her like he was waiting for her to bring up the actual issue.

"Well, if we do stay together, and Karin-"

"We'll cross that road when we get there." He stated sternly yet hinted at no malice in his voice. He uncrossed his arms and opened them up slightly, which to Sakura gave her permission. She huffed slightly and paced forward into his arms.

"I don't want to be faced with a horrible predicament if we don't plan anything out beforehand." She groaned slightly and rested the left side of her face against his chest and let her still amazingly tired eyelids droop down halfway. "I can't _not_ think about it right now. I need to plan for anything that happens."

"Nothing's going to happen." Sasuke stated once more and wrapped his large arms around her back and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Sakura knew that crazy bitch would pull anything and the scariest part was knowing she had very right to do so.

* * *

_My thinking (which is biased and hasn't been thoroughly explained)  
- In my mind Sasuke isn't straight forward with Karin is because he DOES have emotion. She was one of the women that stuck by his side through mostly everything and all the shit he did, so the way I see it he's not too keen on making anyone upset. It's not like Karin and Sasuke will be married 5ever.  
- In my mind Sakura is kind of pushing Sasuke's other life out of her mind. The only part that is reminding her of it is the baby because she knows it is not legally hers, therefore reminding her who the real mother is. With Sasuke it's kind of younger Sakura pushing forward since she missed out on a lot of the 'boy' part of life, so she's charging right through it no matter what. ex. the man being married.  
- In my mind, I was going to explain this later, but a lot of people brought this point up so I'm going to have to explain it now. Naruto would be apprehensive to sign divorce papers for several reasons. A) He was so against their marriage in the first place that their divorce would most likely leave him super angry blah blah. B) If I don't make Karin mad at Sasuke / other things, then she would obviously not sign the papers thus Naruto would be all like wah wah try and work this out because she isn't signing this shit.  
- In my mind Karin isn't as innocent as sad as I've made her out to be. I've tried to make her seem like a pretty crappy wife. Doesn't leave the house, snotty, mean, no interest in a lot of the things Sasuke has interest in. In my opinion she isn't the trophy wife so you can't really blame Sasuke for harboring feelings for another woman (yes I know cheating is bad). And like stated earlier Sasuke never loved her, and she is just infatuated with him mostly because she's attracted to his chakra, like stated in anime and the manga. So she knows what she's in for with this marriage. Sasuke was always kind of a dick to her and she knows it's him, so if she knew then she shouldn't have married him in the first place. _

_Whew! That was for clearing the air (if it even helped) for those people that didn't quite enjoy the last chapter. If you couldn't already tell Sasuke is going to have an affair with Sakura. In a lot of relationships they don't ever plan on telling their significant other they are having an affair, so if you ask me, Sasuke planning on trying to ease a divorce/talk on their marriage isn't half bad. I've experienced my friends heartaches with cheaters so writing this doesn't make me feel how terribly angry I was at their ex's. I hope this kind of maybe hopefully led you to where my head was at because sometimes when I write it doesn't come out the exact way I think and imagine it so my feelings and key ideas aren't given to you. Sorry about that! C: _

_Thanks for the reviews / follows / faves! Next chapter is Sasuke._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	25. Chapter 25

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 25-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Week 14 1/2

In the palm of his hand he held the book he hadn't picked up in a few days and his curiosity had been begging him to read the words on the page. Casually leaning against the island in the middle of the kitchen, Sasuke flipped through the pages he already read until the week 14 caught his eye. As his eyes scanned the words of the book he absentmindedly took a bite of the baby carrot he held within his right hands fingers.

_Your baby is now the size of your clenched fist_! He raised a brow, took the last bit of his carrot in his mouth, and clenched his right fist. Perhaps since the book was a reference to mothers that his fist was much too large - and it seemed that way, since his clenched fist seemed much too big. _Developments this week would be the roof of your baby's mouth! The baby is also sporting a thin coating of hair to keep him warm - but don't fret, once your baby gets all of the baby fat it will shed_. His face twisted a tiny bit. "Gross." Just the mere thought of a hairy baby sent shivers down his spine.

Week sixteen was just around the corner, causing his curiosity to spike through the roof. Would the baby turn out to be his little girl or the Uchiha heir. What did he want more? A little girl wouldn't be that much work, would she? He guessed his son would only be a little shit like he was when he was a young child and he didn't know if he wanted to deal with that just yet. But then again he didn't know if he could relate to his daughter. Would she not like him? Would his own son not like him? Did he even want to know the gender right away or have it be a surprise?

He paced down the hallway of his house and found himself in the archway to the nursery. Plain. Blanched walls with winnowy drapes and just a simple crib propped up against the wall to the right. At first he never saw any faults in the nursery because the baby wouldn't be able to differentiate the colors and simply wouldn't care what color their room was painted. But as he stood there looking into this room he felt a odd vibe that his child would be depressed in this ugly room.

So he stood there, rubbing his chin as he envisioned what he wanted. If it was a girl he knew he didn't want a pink room. There was to be no pink paint in his house whatsoever so he settled on the subtle yellow color, like sunshine. If it was a boy he'd paint it the standard blue or green. They needed a changing table or his life would get a lot harder. The drapes could stay the same to have at least a little bit of white to contrast the colors he knew would invade the room. He wasn't too keen on having the floors littered with toys that would break his feet so he'd have to invest in some storage devices..

Sasuke let out a long sigh. If he wanted to have these things ready then he'd have to learn what his child would be. But then he always imagined learning the gender when it was actually in this world. He tapped his foot against the hardwood. To know what his baby was, or to surprise himself in six-ish months.

Gender neutral, he had to surprise himself, so he was going with gender neutral. Yellow was neutral, wasn't it? Green he supposed could be used in both ways, as long as it wasn't too dark.

He left right after that thought and returned hours later.

In the middle of the room was a large cardboard box with a printed picture on the side. It was a white and light colored wooden changing table. Then beside it were two silver cans of paint. Inside those cans was light green pain he deemed worthy for either his son or his daughter. Then he bought a paint roller and tray, painters tape for the trimmings on the wall he wanted to keep white, bassinet, a large white shaggy rug, and a mattress protector. He felt like he only conquered a little bit of the battle.

He carefully undid the lid of the paint and stared into the solid green color with a smirk. He set the tray beside the can and slowly poured a decent amount into it, feeling more and more sure about his decision. He stood up and peeled off the starter of the tape and turned toward the North wall where the window was situated. He wanted the sills and trim to remain white so as carefully as he could, he covered it with the tape and when he was done, he flicked his wrist and the tape fell to the ground. He knelt back down, undid the wrapper of the paint roller, and dipped it into the tray. He was no professional painter but he knew the basis. You put the roller to the wall. So that's what he did.

He worked and worked on that wall until he was satisfied and his nostrils burned with the smell of paint, but a smirk remained on his face, yet when he stared at the three other walls that were still white he let out a long dramatic sigh. He began to start on the other wall with a sinking heart.

When finished he sat down on the hardwood floor and let his head sink low. He was used to doing a lot of work during missions but this was excruciatingly painfully dull. But it was finally done and when he looked at his end result he smiled. The plain began to wash away with the bright color that would welcome his baby into their new home. So he cleaned up and by the time the paint had finished drying the baby changing table was completely constructed. He was the only one that was good at following instructions.

He laid the rug down in the room and fitted the mattress protector to said mattress and clapped his hands together once.

Now this was a room he was okay to let his child sleep in.

...

Ten days had passed and Sasuke and Karin found themselves in the clinic once more.

They were escorted to Ms. Nao's office and were greeted warmly, Sakura already was being set up on the grey pleather chair. She gave the couple a warm smile and suppressed the larger smile that desperately wanted to surface. The gel was gently being rubbed along the smooth slightly curved surface of Sakura's belly and the tension settled in.

Karin didn't particularly notice the tension because her eyes were busy wandering the office and it's different toys and gadgets.

"Do you want the 3D image?" Ms. Nao questioned calmly as she held both of the transducers in her hands with a raised brow. "We can do both, so what will be first."

"The regular one first." He stated, he liked to have the 3D image last so he could end the meeting on a good note.

Sakura's eyes were affixed to the monitor that was spinning around with different images as Ms. Nao rolled the first transducer along her stomach. The familiar sound of the baby's heartbeat filled the room and they all somewhat looked relieved. "The heartbeat is good." Ms. Nao said with a smile. "And they look to be growing at a good rate... With the 3D ultrasound the gender of the baby will be more easy to notice. Is anyone against seeing the gender?"

Karin looked over to Sasuke and cocked her head. "I want to know, but Sasuke doesn't."

Ms. Nao nodded her head. "I'll have the results printed out and secured in a folder for your eyes only then. In the meantime we'll focus on the parts of the baby that wont give away the gender." They nodded to her words and watched as the monitor returned to it's dull black image. She switched out the transducers and re-applied its cold tip to Sakura's belly.

The orange and black image resurfaced and was showing off his child's tiny sleeping face. At week sixteen his child was about four to five inches long and those tiny little ears Sasuke spotted most likely could hear voices and begin to get used to them. In front of their tiny little face was their balled up fists with the tiny intricate details in the knuckle and the little fingers that were curled inside of their palm. They had a tiny little button nose and two perfectly shaped eyelids that were glued shut in their deep slumber. He smiled because it was almost like he had his little baby in his arms.

"Wow.." Sakura piped up with a soothing voice, a smile curling up on her lips as she laid her jade eyes upon the face of that child. "That's amazing."

As the three reveled with the image in front of them, Ms. Nao tapped a small green circular button and the printer on the counter began to chatter loudly, sucking in a blank sheet of paper to print its words on. When they finished, she set the transducer on the silver tray beside the monitor and paced over to the counter and printer, sliding the paper into a small brown folder quietly. She twirled around and walked back over to Karin, holding it in front of her.

"The gender's inside."

Karin took the folder between her fingers and opened it up in front of her face. Sasuke took a cautious step back so he could avoid accidentally peering at the gender. Karin's eyes darted from side to side as she read the words and a small smile found its way to her mouth as she found what she was looking for. She gazed over at Sasuke. "I'm ready to go home."

When they returned home Sasuke made his way over into the kitchen for a glass of water but Karin went down the hallway casually until a bright light caught her eye. She snapped her neck to the side and saw something she never noticed. She took a rather hesitant step inside of the nursery and a large smile found it's way to her face. The nursery before she and Sasuke never really cared for. It was a baby and had no real preference to what color they wanted their room. "Sasuke must have done this.." She murmured to herself as she leaned against the wall. It was a beautiful shade of green that would suit a little girls room or a little boys room, and was definitely prettier to look at than the old white walls.

"You know, at the meeting you didn't seem all too thrilled to see the baby." Sasuke's voice shattered through her thoughts and she gazed over to him. He was leaning in the doorway to the nursery with a glass of water in his hand.

She shrugged lightly. "It's harder for me to connect to that baby. It's your baby, Sakura's holding that baby so she has a natural bond with it... It's just harder for me to make a connection with it." She licked her lips. "It'll take time."

They stood in silence as she continued to gaze around the room in complete awe. "But the nursery is beautiful."

* * *

_I've decided against showing the gender of the baby until it's birth! Yippee! :) _

_Thanks so much for the reviews, follows, faves! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	26. Chapter 26

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 26-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Remembering the image that was burned in his head, he stared at the slightly prominent curve of Sakura's belly. He had his hands on either side of her belly and imagined the tiny little being that was residing in there. "Can you feel them yet?" He questioned without even budging his eyes.

Sakura smile and gently nodded her head. "Only faintly. Usually a first time mother wouldn't notice the signs but since I've had to work with pregnant patients I've memorized the tell tale signs." She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair. "If you're asking because you're waiting to feel something, that wont be for a little while."

He was slightly disappointed but didn't allow it to show on his face. "At the appointment, did you learn the gender?"

She nodded again. "Yes, Ms. Nao told me once you two left. I'm surprised you didn't want to know, what with not liking to beat around the bush and all."

"It would be boring to know what it is." He thought maybe if he could focus really hard then maybe he could feel a tiny little movement. Still nothing. "Will I be happy?"

"I think you'll be happy." She smiled. "I mean either way you'll be happy, right?"

"Hn." He stayed quiet and continued staring at her swell. "Are you happy?"

A small hearty chuckle escaped from her throat. "I'm not saying whether I'm happy or not because I have a feeling I've told you what gender I was leaning toward. I'm not accidentally spoiling it for you... Have you started buying baby clothes? Thinking of names?"

He stared up at her with a perplexed face. He didn't like when she talked as if she was still just a surrogate to him. She was much more. "No."

"Huh, why not? Names are something they're stuck with, so you need to sit on a name and see how it fits!" She jokingly reprimanded him as she still soothingly ran her fingers through his inky black locks. "You don't even have an idea? A meaning? I've kept a list of all the names I like."

"I'm not naming my child without even seeing it." Sasuke stated and rose up tall, crossing his arms then looking her in the eyes.

"Hmm, not even a few names that you've remembered through the years?"

"A few I suppose." He shrugged lightly and paced through the kitchen to pick up his crystal glass of water. He took a small sip of it as he eyed her silently. He didn't want to tell anyone the names he had in mind because he was slightly embarrassed. Not that they were stupid names but they held significant meaning to him - so if anyone degraded the names he'd be forced to hold a long lasting grudge.

"Are you going to tell me?" She swiveled around to face him with a long warm smile etched on her face with a raised brow. He shook his head at her as he took another sip of his water and Sakura let out a long sigh.

"Well now I'm dying to know. I know that you were named after the Third Hokage's father, so do your 'secret' names draw from anyone or have a nice meaning?" She carefully lifted herself up onto the edge of the kitchen counter and absentmindedly swung her legs back and forth.

He shrugged again. "Both I suppose."

"My parents named me after the trees that were in bloom when they first met and the night of their honeymoon. I guess it goes well with my last name since it means spring field, but I don't really think my name carries any significance other than a tree that reoccurred through their life together."

"Your parents have their reasons." There was another reason why he was somewhat reluctant to name his child. If his child didn't like their name he'd forever be somewhat hurt by that revelation.

"Would I like the names?"

"Most likely."

"Hmmm." She tapped her chin idly with the corner of her lip turned upwards. "Is it a name that's popular?"

"Not really."

"Is it a name I may know?"

"Probably not."

"Interesting." She stated as she hopped off the counter. "I'm going to remember this and keep prying you till' you tell me."

"I'll be waiting." He smirked and sipped at his water once more.

Later on in the day they 'ran into each other' when Naruto had called in a team 7 meeting.

"Look at you Sakura! You're huge!" Naruto wailed loudly in the streets with his bright blue eyes glistening underneath the suns rays and his hands came upward to make grabby motions. "Last time I saw you... You.. Weren't this..." He began to regret what he said as soon as he remembered her wrath. "...Pregnant."

Sasuke smirked at his idiotic friend while Sakura waved it away as if it were nothing. "I know, things are going by so fast. Overnight it just gets so much bigger."

"There aren't two in there, are there?" Kakashi showed his face to their right in an instant with a novel clutched in his hand. Beneath his mas they could see their old sensei giving them a warm welcoming smile.

"Gee I hope not." Sakura chuckled and rubbed her belly idly. "There's only one in there, for sure. I saw it myself on the 3D ultrasound."

"What's that Sakura?" Naruto chimed in with an interested face.

"It's a 3D image of the baby. Y'know the regular ultrasound only shows a 2D image, well you can practically see the whole baby with this 3D ultrasound. It's pretty amazing." She pressed her hand to the small of her back and let out a sigh. "Can we hurry up and sit down, my back is aching."

All of the men nodded and they found themselves in a tea shoppe around a wooden circular table and curled up in large soft red chairs.

"I brought you three here for a reason." Naruto started and leaned in, placing his elbows on the table as his eyes sharpened with seriousness. "I'm going to tell you three something that must be kept secret. Understand?"

They all looked at each other silently but without question, nodding back to Naruto when they felt the time was right. "Alright." He began and his eyes darted from black to green to black. "The important thing is... I'm going to be Hokage!"

Sakura let out a long sigh as she deadpanned. _He tells us to keep this under wraps as he exclaims it with joy_! She rubbed the bridge of her nose as she let her eyelids flutter shut. Sasuke shook his head with a grimace.

"You idiot." He muttered to himself while Kakashi let out a dramatic sigh and pulled out his novel.

"Tell me something I don't know, Naruto."

"WHAA-?! How did you know, Kakashi Sensei! I understand Sasuke knowing, b-but..!"

"Of course I was informed, Naruto. I was your teacher so I was one of the first to know. Even before you did."

"Aw man, at least Sakura didn't know... Right Sakura?"

"Eh? Yes of course Naruto. I have no high standings in this village so I wouldn't know. Now, if my jobs weren't reduced at the hospital, then maybe Tsunade could have told me..." She darted an accusing eye to Sasuke briefly, playing the facade of the girl who knew nothing about Naruto becoming Hokage. "Anyways, congratulations Naruto! I can't believe your lifelong dream is coming true!"

"Yes, it seems we all have completed life-long dreams." Kakashi muttered almost under his breath and exchanged a short glance with Sakura. Naruto didn't catch it, but Sakura looked down at her feet nervously.

"What? Kakashi what was your old dream?"

"To raise a splendid team from genin to jonin! Now look at you three! Member of the anbu, soon to be Hokage, and Tsunade's own pupil - Konoha's best healer on the field."

"Yeah, look at us now." Naruto beamed proudly.

Kakashi intervened. "Actually I'm surprised you three made it this far. When I first met you guys... I didn't expect much. Maybe Sasuke, of course, but.."

Naruto snorted lightly. "Yeah whatever Kakashi, face it, we were the best team ever. We were the underdogs but we surpassed all odds! Wanna know something even more surprising? Sasuke got married before all of us. What the hell?!"

Sasuke grit his teeth. "You're not married because no woman in all the lands can stand you for more than five minutes." He leaned in angrily as Naruto did the same.

"Oh yeah? Wanna bet? I have a thing with Hinata that's been goin' on for years, SASUKE. Wanna here something else?"

"No." He interjected.

"Well I'm going to say it anyways - she is the best woman in all of the lands!"

"Yeah, she's really the cream of the crop, Naruto. You of all people would pick the woman that has no nerves to stand up to your idiocy-"

"That's it!" Naruto slammed it fists down on the table, shaking their tall glasses of iced and heated teas, spilling over the sides and pooling on the wood. Citizens gazed over their shoulders to the two arguing boys and giggled among themselves.

Sakura took to her feet and grabbed both of the boys by their collars and growled. "If you two don't calm the hell down you're going to make me really angry - and me being angry isn't something you want nor is it good for this baby. So settle down!" Sasuke was the first to take his rightful seat quietly yet his eyes still blazed with anger for the blonde.

Naruto grumbled to himself. "But Sakura, he insulted her..!"

"It's in the past, leave it there." Sakura growled once more and that shut him up.

So from then on they pretended the other didn't exist.

As time rolled by the found themselves outside of the shoppe saying their goodbyes. Sasuke and Naruto left in opposite directions and Sakura had to file some papers at work, that was until as she was about to take a step in her direction she felt a hand wrap itself around her upper arm.

"Kakashi? Something wrong?" She asked him with a hint of curiosity yet she somewhat feared the answer he would give her.

"It's something I need to warn you of, Sakura. Naruto sometimes is mildly stupid, but he is no real fool. He's going to catch on to this... 'Thing' you and Sasuke have. He caught those glances you shared and if he finds out he will be so angry with you two." He warned her with a caring beady black eye and she couldn't let the wetness come to her eyes with a slight nervous quiver of her bottom lip. "Sakura... What is the truth with this child - there will be hell to pay legally and with that wife of Sasuke's if..."

She shook her head gently. "Kakashi it's not that.." She stared deep into his eye and found comfort in telling him. "I.. I'm carrying his child for him and Karin.." He simply raised a brow to her. "B-but.." The tears welled up in her eyes because Kakashi was like the father she never had since her real one was always busy at the hospital in her youth. He was not someone she wanted to let down but she felt like she did a million times over. She whispered. "..but I still love him."

He let his gentle grip on her arm loosen and his serious face soften. "Sakura... Then why did you agree to surrogate for him in the first place?"

"Because I wanted to help, Kakashi.. No matter my feelings I knew how important it was to Sasuke to have a family and Karin is unable since she lacks eggs.."

"Ah. So it _is_ biologically yours then.."

She nodded furiously and wiped the tears on the back of her hand. "And the more I fall in love with him the more I fall in love with this child that's legally not mine..!" Tears continued to roll down her cheeks without her permission and she still fought to wipe them away because she had gotten to far to break down now. "I know what we're doing is wrong Sensei! I truly do, but. I just love him so much and I always have."

"You need to have Sasuke tell Karin the truth. In some cases it's better for the, eh, 'other woman' to tell the wife for some sort of woman-to-woman kind of thing."

She chuckled through her ugly sobs. "Sasuke said she'd kill me no matter if I was pregnant or not. Plus I can barely be in her presence for more than five minutes."

"Maybe if you got to know the woman it would be easier.. Or I suppose harder, whichever way you see it. I know you, Sakura, you're a smart girl. Run into her in the street and start chatting."

"I know you're a smart man Kakashi, but getting to know the wife of the husband I'm seeing wont exactly do me good. If I get in her good grace's and she finds out that will do more harm than good. But I suppose if I do run into her in the street it wont be me trying too hard.."

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm no relationship counselor so don't take it from me. Just conceal it more for your sanity, for Naruto sanity as he goes through the rough transition of becoming Hokage. Alright?"

She nodded and believed the last of her tears had been shed. "Yes. Thank you Kakashi sensei. You really are a smart man, you know that?" She smiled gently when he let out a little chuckle.

"As I've been told, yes."

* * *

_Kakashi knows the truth! He's too smart for his own good!  
Sorry to the people that aren't too particularly happy with this story._

_Thanks for the growing reviews to this story! Special thanks to GUEST (lol) for the 200th review! Also thanks to the followers and faves! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	27. Chapter 27

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 27-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Today was the day of Naruto's coronation.

To her parents request she dressed in an elegant pink silken furisode for the occasion. She complained that she didn't want to wear it because it was traditionally something single women wore to show they were of age for marriage but thanked her lucky stars her parents thought nothing of her complaining. She couldn't deal with them probing her as to why she shouldn't wear the single woman's furisode.

But when she looked in the mirror she smiled gently and rubbed the small swell underneath the fabric. It was a lovely outfit, she gave it that. It was a light pink tone with pink flowers and petals growing up from the bottom of the dress until her shoulders. Unfortunately for her the obi would not fit around her belly so she had to fasten it with a long light pink silken band she found in her armoire. The sleeves of the furisode reached just a few inches above the ground when she crossed her arms just under her chest so she huffed. She hated clothes that dragged around on the floor.

She paced over to her window as the sun was just barely beginning to descend from the sky. Naruto's actual coronation was a private meeting between village elders and Lady Tsunade, but once that was over she could finally see him donned up in his new Hokage gear. She hadn't been able to see Sasuke in three days due to his busy schedule. Three quarters of the anbu squad were appointed to the protection of the Hokage mansion and Sasuke just so happened to be picked for the duty, so he had meetings all through the days about plans and such. Now their team only needed Sasuke to be chosen for the anbu captain and they would all be some powerful people.

In the streets below the lanterns that were strung on string above the walkways were lit, illuminating the heads that passed by underneath them. The lanterns read the number six on some and the others read Hokage, all ranging in colors and sizes. Shops were handing out free samples to help brings sales on this busy and joyous night, big colored signs were displayed all through the streets, booths were set up for all sorts of games and festive foods for the celebration, and last but not least - the people that furiously crowded the streets. There were people that would travel from other countries just to partake in the festivities on these nights and since Konoha's weather never really differed from its usual warmth many people from colder villages and countries would take the time to travel.

Sakura clapped her hands together with a bright smile. "Let's go!" She slipped her feet into her pair of lightly colored geta and locked the door behind her quickly. She wanted to get to eating as fast as she could but she knew Ino would be furious with her if she started without her, so Sakura began to make her way to the flower shop. She waved to numerous people she recognized and took a step forward into the closed shop and glanced at Ino.

"Ino? You ready to go? I'm famished."

"Yeah, hold on!" Ino chimed from on the other side of the door and appeared before her in a lilac colored kimono. "Do you like it? I bought it last night in a rush since YOU bailed on me for shopping the other day.. It's pretty, isn't it?"

Sakura smiled and nodded. "Everything you buy is pretty, now let's get out of here."

"Yeah yeah, but hey I noticed you're wearing a gorgeous little furisode! I didn't know you're going back to dating!"

As they left the shop Sakura sighed. "My parents insisted on it. I know they'll be out and about tonight so I can't not wear it. They spent a lot of money on it."

"At least you'll be one of the better looking girls, I saw Aya wearing a horrendous green and brown furisode. No wonder she's still single." Ino scoffed and the two idly chit-chatted as they slowly walked through the streets.

Sakura's eyes laid upon a yellow colored booth with the words DANGO pasted above. Her heart skipped a beat and she could feel her mouth begin to water. "I'm going to get some dango, okay Ino?" She looked over her shoulder and noticed the blonde had disappeared through the crowd. "Oh Ino, you're like a child I always have to watch." She snickered and casually made her way over to the booth.

With a stick of golden dangos in hand she decided she better go and find Ino so she wouldn't be stuck by herself. So she happily walked down the street taking small bites of her dango, absolutely loving the breath-taking scenery and decorations around her.

"Sakura!" She whirled around to the sound of her name to see her mother and father happily waving to her from around a small white bistro table. She smiled faintly and walked on over in front of their table. "I see you're wearing your beautiful furisode! I knew you'd love it!"

"Yes, surprisingly I do like it." Sakura snickered to her mother as she bit into the last dango on her stick. "But this will be the last time I'm wearing something you two buy me."

"You know you're father actually picked out the flower designs - imagine that! He's been so busy at the hospital more recently, I'm so glad we had time to go and get you this!" Her mother stood up promptly and lovingly smoothed out the small wrinkles that found their ways into the fabric. "Oh my!"

"What?"

Her mother knelt down so she was eye level with the small swell and her green eyes began to glisten. "Look at this, Kizashi!" Her mother squealed and rubbed her hands all over the small bump. "I miss this so much... And you're not even keeping it!"

"There's nothing I can do about it now.." Her mother had quite a mouth so she refrained from spilling the beans. "Except enjoy it while it lasts."

"Oh I pray to the Gods you find a nice man that while take care of you and give you beautiful babies. I'm not getting any younger, Sakura! Next time you have a bun in the oven I will take action and keep that baby!"

"You'll be arrested mum."

"It's a crime to take a baby from its mother, Sakura!"

"Alright, Mebuki, calm down. We can just watch the child from afar! It's got to look like Sakura so it wont be that hard!"

"...What do you mean it will look like me..?"

"This pink hair runs through our family, through our very veins! That child will be born with pink hair!"

Sakura gulped nervously. "Well what if the father had a hair color that ran through his family, like I don't know, black."

"Oh of course the pink is stronger than the black."

A chill ran down her spine. "I wouldn't have became a surrogate if I knew I'd be passing along pink hair." She joked nervously but her father seemed quite offended.

"Now what's wrong with having pink hair, Sakura? Hm? Think its too girly? Am _I_ too girly?"

"I've got to go find Ino now, she's been lost for fifteen minutes!" She began to cautiously step back.

"Sakura don't leave, we didn't mean it!" Her mother called out but Sakura quickly took five steps back into the thicket of the crowd and when she turned around she bonked heads with somebody in the street.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Her hand found its way to her right temple as she pried open her closed shut eyes. In front of her was the absolute last person she wanted to see. Another shrill shiver leaked down her spine. "I'm sorry Karin, these crowds are leaving me so. Everywhere!" It was a weird sight to see Karin outside of the Uchiha compound or the clinic. She had no glasses on her face so Sakura only guesses she had contacts on. Her hair was parted over her right shoulder and completely straight. She was wearing a emerald green kimono to compliment her striking head of bright red hair and her unwavering crimson eyes.

Karin regained her composure and rubbed her left temple with a unnoticeable grit of her teeth. She drew in a long breath. "It's alright." She stated and tucked her hands back into the sleeves of her kimono.

Awkward tension set it immediately after those words left her mouth but Sakura was determined to take Kakashi's words to heart. "So, tonight's festivities are pretty amazing. And I cant believe it's all for that goofball."

Karin shrugged with a slight tug at the corner of her lips. "Yeah, they are pretty nice.." Karin looked over her shoulders to glance at the monumental faces of the past Hokage's that were alive with colors from lanterns strung above their heads. Both women couldn't believe his face was next on that mountain.

Suddenly the ground shook beneath their feet. A loud thundering explosion echoed through the air and rattled through their heads, sending many to the earth below them in a state of shock. Cries of children and adults alike were the next thing her ringing ears heard and the sight of women clutching their children in fear and men standing over them protectively looking around. She and Karin were both sent to their hands and knees from the violent rattle and their alert eyes darted up to the almost completely darkened skies where a large plume of black smoke drifted across from an unknown source.

Both women made it to their feet just as people began to frantically dart through the streets with children in tow screaming their little heads off. Overhead in the blackness of the smoke were nin Sakura could not recognize. Their gear were not certified Konoha flak's nor were they certified anbu outfits. They were skin tight black outfits with beige tunics pulled over top with black obi's to boot. She shivered. It made her think of a man that was long gone by now but it gave her a perfect idea as to who these nin were. Sound ninja's - Orochimaru's followers.

Sakura somewhat hoped Karin would turn and go along with them.

But instead Karin remained rooted to the ground, deep in thought, surveying the nin with her jutsu. Sakura clutched her fists - she would do anything to get in the midst of that battle to help wounded ninja's. A thought struck her. _The explosion! There must be wounded civilians I can help_!

She was about to turn around when a building down the street blew up, sending pieces of furniture, glass, planks of wood, and fireballs through the air. "Any of these buildings could be rigged..!" She hissed through her teeth as she suspiciously looked at the buildings surrounding her. Many people and families had taken cover in these stores, ducking underneath tables and counters in fear. "...And they wouldn't even know it." _But then again the first explosion happened about three blocks down, so maybe there's a chance this street doesn't have any more bombs_..

Sakura licked her lips and began to run down the road but was stopped when the second story of the building began to topple into the bustling street, luckily not hitting anyone as far as she could see. She took about four cautionary steps back near Karin.

Three anbu members appeared through thin air, two began to survey the buildings surrounding the damaged one while another darted through the crowds and wrapped his arm around her. She knew who this was and was certain by the look in Karin's eyes that she knew who that was too.

They had appeared in the district of Konoha where most of the houses were situated and Sakura immediately smacked his chest. "Why did you do that?!"

"Wh-"

"-why did you do that?! I need to help those people! And why did you not save Karin, she was right beside me!" Sakura screeched loudly with a furious expression.

"Because unlike you, Karin can run fast enough to get herself out of there." He stated simply and took a step back. "I need to leave." He turned around so his back faced her and she took a threatening step forward.

"Once you leave I'm leaving. They need my help."

He wrathfully swiveled around. Through the slits in his mask she could see his spinning blood red eyes in the form of his sharingan. She gulped. "Don't you dare leave, Sakura." They continued to look at each other for a brief moment before he disappeared into the air to do his job.

"Ugh!" She cried out and turned around, beginning to run as fast as she could and as much as her legs would take her. She thrust her hand into her pocket and gripped the small key between her fingers. Unlocking the door, she threw it open and dashed inside until she stopped in front of the large window in the living room.

She could see the two large columns of smoke and the civilians that were still rushing around in a panicked frenzy to get away from the busy streets. She could see the army of stretchers being weaved through the citizens from medic-nins and doctors alike to get to the people they needed to help. She fiercely gripped the window sill and bit down on her bottom lip. There were so many things running through her head and like the doctor she was she could sort through it as fast as she needed to but just standing in her apartment doing nothing gave her the jitters of adrenaline with no where to go.

"Dammit..." She paced nervously through her darkened living room, biting her fingernails roughly. "Sasuke will be so angry with me if I leave but.. It's either he's angry with me but I save lives or he's not angry with me and families are hurting."

When she paced back over to her window she saw something that gave her a smile.

Naruto was standing high and mighty on a buildings rooftop, overlooking the damage with a scowl on his face. He was clad in his white long Hokage cloak with the blood red flames growing from the bottom up. "Oh Naruto..." She whispered gently and leaned in closer to the window with a warm smile. "Look at you. You did it buddy." Her eyes brimmed with tears that were sort of out of the blue, before she let them loose she blamed them on the pregnancy and they leaked down her face fast paced.

She watched proudly as her best male friend began his attack on the offensive sound-nin with such precision and looking like he had no doubt in his mind. She could also see the brilliant blue sparks of Sasuke's infamous chidori and the burning ball of his well known clan loved fireball jutsu. One by one the sound nin were being obliterated by Konoha's best and her pride only swelled further.

The building side by side with her own apartment complex blew up and sent her apartment away with it's power.

* * *

_wow drama rama am I right? wow I hope Sakura is okay ;O; _

_Thanks for the reviews/faves/follows! I LOVE THEM! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	28. Chapter 28

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 28-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Sasuke paced through the abandoned streets of Konoha minutes after the battle was called off.

His footsteps were the only thing he could hear at the moment aside from the quiet chatter of paper rustling through the warm breeze. He blinked behind his mask as stray smoke from the buildings clogged his vision and muttered under his breath about how downhill this event turned. He continued down the streets, eyeballing the dead corpses that belonged to the sound-nin, Konoha's own ninja's assisting with removing them from the streets. The fires were put out almost immediately when the last of the attacking Sound's were done with and dangerous beams and floors were given support to last through the night. Surprisingly no citizens had died from this celebration, as far as Sasuke knew.

Sasuke made his way down the main street until he reached the Hokage's mansion where Naruto was standing proud with a smirk on his face, proud because he had the hand in defeating the last infiltrator. Naruto turned around to face his best friend with that same familiar oddly reassuring grimace. "What a way to end the night, eh?"

He shrugged and smirked behind his mask. Even though this animal printed mask covered his identity Naruto always knew which one he was. "I suppose."

"Good thing we got everything under control." The newly appointed Hokage scratched the back of his head. "I mean we've secured all of the bombs through the city that failed to detonate. Good thing only three exploded."

"Third explosion? I only remember two."

The blonde looked at him with a serious face. "Yeah, Sasuke, I thought somebody told you already. A building beside Sakura's apartment blew up. It was a chain reaction so the gas and everything beneath the complex blew up after, sent the whole place into an explosion."

His heart began to beat rapidly and he could feel his blood drain from his face. "What?!" Now he prayed she had defied him and returned to the hospital once he left to help the others. "Where is she now?"

"At the hospital being treated. I don't think it's as bad as you think-"

Naruto didn't even get to finish because Sasuke was gone in a flash.

...

Sakura was curled up, snug as a bug in her heated hospital bed. She had complained and argued against taking a bed from someone who most likely needed it more than she did but was shut up when they said they needed to give routine check ups to the little baby within her. So she nodded and climbed into her bed without more objections and when the nurse would arrive into her room questioning if she needed sustenance Sakura felt like a pampered Princess. She had her arms curled around her swell on her abdomen and sighed heavily.

She was ever so grateful they made it out of there without serious injury. So much more could have happened to them other than the few lacerations on her back and a few bruises here and there. God forbid if she wasn't conscious when falling to the earth below she could have landed on her belly and done some serious damage. Or even worse, her baby would have died she was facing the other way or if she landed on the ground wrong.

The door was thrown open and an angry looking anbu member stepped forward, furiously closing the door behind him. She didn't smile or anything because she had to tell him something that was far from the truth. "Sasuke." She whispered gently as he removed the mask from his still angry face.

"What happened to you?" She could see he tried his best to keep his stoic composure but she could see the fear and raging fury behind his coal like eyes.

She felt bad for saying this. "I almost lost the baby." She whispered and the emotions hiding behind his eyes began to make way to his face. She lifted her hospital blanket and patted beside her. "I didn't actually - I only said that so you wouldn't make a big deal about my actual injuries. I'm fine and the baby is fine, so please sit with me."

Sasuke pursed his lips angrily and she could almost see steam blowing out from his ears. "Why in the world would you say that?!"

"I'm sorry, but no offense but you're incredibly worrisome and somewhat overbearing with me being pregnant and all. You needed to know what could have happened, but didn't. Only a couple of lacerations on my back. Sit down please."

Sasuke breathed through his nose noisily yet did as she asked and took a seat beside her in the hospital bed. "Lay down with me, I'm getting cold." She pleaded with big sparkly emerald eyes and still, he did exactly that. She tucked them in and wrapped her right arm around his torso while she rested her left cheek upon the grey anbu vest. She let her eyelids flutter shut in somewhat complete bliss.

"... Are you sure you are fine?"

She knew his questions were going to be inevitable. "We are both fine. If we weren't you'd know of it. I promise." She stated and let her eyes close again.

She heard him let out a huff of frustrated air. "What about your apartment?"

"For the most part, gone." She sighed and clutched him tighter. "I'm going to have to ask the nurse for a real estate magazine and start apartment searching. As if I needed that stress on me right now."

Sasuke remembered reading in his book that a pregnant woman should not have to go through a move because it is a huge stress on your life. He pursed his lips into a thin line. "Can't you just stay with your parents?"

She scoffed. "Sasuke I moved out for a reason. It's a real pain in the ass living with parent when you're in your twenties, besides, it'll be more stressful living with them than moving. And then I have to buy furniture..."

Sasuke deeply wished he could just move her into a spacious mansion on the compound with everything she needed and wanted with their baby. "..So what were you talking about last night before I left, about Karin."

Sakura shimmied up closer so she could fit her face into the warm crook of his neck. "I bumped into her after I escaped from my parents a few minutes before the initial explosion. We were still standing in the thicket of the crowd together when you and the other two anbu members came."

"How do you know she knew it was me?"

"Because, I know I shouldn't have, but I looked over in her direction and she was staring right at us, Sasuke. She knows what you look like! You're hair isn't too hard to differentiate from the others." She propped herself up on her elbows and stared at him seriously. "I didn't like the look in her face. Tell her, Sasuke. Or I swear.."

He licked his lips and let out a sigh. "I'll sit her down today."

Sakura smiled gently and leaned in, placing a small kiss upon his lips. "Good."

After being booted from her hospital room by her and the nurse, Sasuke was left to his own accord. He filed out his report for the night and dragged his feet back home, dreading what he knew was going to be a long fight.

He opened the door to his abode and took a hesitant step inside, his eyes darting everywhere until he spotted the woman sitting on the couch looking quite sullen. He quietly paced in and took a seat on the opposite love seat.

"Sasuke.." Her head snapped up and her expression he could only read as angry. "How come you saved another woman over me?!" She screeched loudly while she crossed her arms.

He debated on how to tell her. "Don't you think we should save those who cannot readily save themselves before able bodied people? You could have gotten out of there just as fast as I did yet you sit here complaining that I didn't waste my time to save you."

Karin snuffed angrily. "But I'm your wife! I should be the FIRST person on your mind!"

"Shouldn't the baby be the first things on our mind?" Sasuke replied rather darkly and shot her an angry glance with his emotionless eyes. She just rolled her eyes at him and scoffed.

"Whatever." She shook her head and brought her knees up to her chin, her eyelids only half lidded. Sasuke wondered what it was she was thinking at the moment besides the anger she currently harbored for him.

He leaned back against the back of the couch and let out a sigh. This will be a very long fight indeed. "I don't believe your're happy, Karin, as much as you try to let on."

"What?" She peered up from over her knees with a confused face, her brows meeting in the middle.

"You're not happy in this marriage, and neither am I." He stated simply, looking her dead in the eyes. She looked quite taken back, as she slowly leaned back away from him defensively. "That's not how marriages work."

"What the hell are you saying, Sasuke?! It's mostly you that makes me unhappy! You act so cold to me!"

"I've always been that way. You knew that before we got married."

She clenched her fists. "That's not what I mean, you're never home anymore and when you are it's for a brief time only! You never spend time with _me_, you don't touch _me_ anymore! I don't know what the hell happened to you!"

Sasuke sat there listening to her piercing words, taking them all to heart; however, he knew all of this already. "Karin I believe it would be best if-"

"Don't you dare say it! You can't just back out of a marriage that's degraded at your own fault!"

He stared into her crimson eyes once more with his own glass eyes, emotionless and non-comforting. "It's not a marriage Karin and you know it. Don't live here just to live here."

"It's about that baby isn't it, I'm just useless to you aren't I." She furiously grit her teeth together with little sparkles of tears prickling the corners of her eyes. "Sorry that _my body_ is just so messed up!"

Sasuke felt a tinge of regret for putting her through this but he just wanted to shake her by the shoulders and tell her to smarten up and just leave him. "It's not about your body and it never was."

"Then what?! What makes you so unhappy!?"

He bit his tongue. He could be an asshole and tell her the truth or just brush off her question and tell her he wanted a divorce. But then again he thought about how she deserved at least a little bit of an explanation. "You don't interest me anymore. You're depressed, you don't take missions, you leave the house once every two weeks." No matter how mean the explanation was she needed it.

She sat there in shock, her lips curling downward into a nasty scowl.

"So just leave and go someplace where you'll possibly be happy." He stated. "...Our marriage is over."

...

When Sasuke returned stealthily to Sakura's cracked open window, he spotted a nurse gently untying Sakura's light blue hospital gown, revealing the bloodied gauze taped down to her skin. Quietly, he watched as the nurse apologized if taking off the gauze hurt her in any way as she began to carefully peel it away. Sakura's tired face winced slightly as the gauze tugged away at the fresh delicate scabbing over her deep cut wounds. Around the deep cuts her skin was slightly burned from the gas explosion that exploded through her flooring.

The nurse carefully began to apply the light green ointment to the burns that covered most of her back and uncapped a new ointment for the raw skin that was ripped open. Sakura let out a long, exasperated sigh and buried her face into her hands which led the nurse to apologize once more. "It's alright." She whispered and the nurse gave her a curt nod before unwrapping new gauze and spreading it over the wound. She taped it down to the skin of her back that wasn't torn apart, checked a little machine, and told her she'd be back in a few hours with the OB/GYN.

Sakura sat in the darkness of her room with half lidded tired eyes, rubbing her upper arms slowly as she glanced around.

Her eyes fell upon the window to her right and the tiniest hint of a smile graced her face. He slowly slid the window open and dropped his feet into the room as silently as he could before closing the window behind him. She just barely whispered his name before he interjected.

"Are you in pain?" His eyes darted around her body that she was currently wrapping in the heated hospital blanket. She shook her head.

"Somewhat." She told him and moved around in the bed to make room for him. "They gave me some medicinal tea's to rid me of the prominent pain but it wont take everything away." His face scrunched up sourly and she chuckled gently. "It's nothing to get worked up over."

"Why can't they just give you stronger tea's to get rid of every pain you have?" He remained on his feet with his hands gripping the metal hand bar on the bed.

"Because they don't want to drug me up too much. There's no stronger tea's in the country that will do the trick and I can't take local anesthetics because of the baby. If I do then there will be a complication called Neonatal Toxicity. I don't want to risk any of that."

Sasuke remained silent, still feeling downright angry at himself. If he hadn't made her go back home then she wouldn't be in this predicament.

"Sasuke sit down already." She patted the open space beside her. He followed after her words and she immediately attached herself to his side calmly. "You had _no idea_ that the building next to mine was rigged and I know if you knew you wouldn't have left me there to possibly get killed. Please don't blame yourself."

"If I just let you go back to the hospital then this could have all been avoided."

"Well this is the way it all played out and it happened for some reason." She told him once she fully found a comfortable place in the crook of his neck once more. She licked her lips. "...Did you go back home?"

Sasuke nodded.

"What happened?"

"She reacted the way I knew she would." He sighed gently and opened his eyes a crack to look out to the large grey moon. "She's not signing anything."

* * *

_wow she's okay! And Karin now knows their marriage is down the drain but not the whole other woman part, that hasn't been pieced together yet. It's funny because half of the reviews and PM's I get are either getting angry that Karin has no idea or that they want Karin to be killed off. It's hilarious. _

_Thanks for all of the reviews and faves and follows! You guys are amazing! xoxo_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	29. Chapter 29

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 29-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

He felt slightly embarrassed when he had to buy the list of specific food Sakura required at the hospital.

What was more embarrassing for him was when he returned to her hospital room and watched as she piled everything in between two pieces of bread and took a bite.

He cleared his throat with a curiously furrowed brow. "I didn't know cottage cheese could be eaten with pickles." His curled curled downward in disgust as he took a seat on the chair beside her bed, watching her carefully. It wasn't just those two ingredients she stuffed in there. There was also a stick of milk chocolate and peanut butter.

"I'm just so hungry for everything and I can't live off the dull hospital food until I leave, I just can't!" Sakura stated dramatically between mouthfuls of her rancid sandwich and took a delicate sip of her water. "Besides I can barely taste it."

"Then what was the point of making me go out and buy all of that?" Sasuke snarled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Couldn't you have just eaten a hospital sandwich and pretended all of that was in there?"

"It's not the same Sasuke. I can still taste the underlying horrid tuna taste of those sandwiches." She shuddered to herself and took another chomp of her sandwich then laughed at Sasuke's still disturbed face. "Thank you, though, for getting me these things."

"Hn." He seemed to settle into the red hospital chair and as he did so, he pulled out a small white book. He opened it up silently and flipped open to the page of WEEK 18. _Your baby is five and a half inches long and weighs about five ounces, and at this much, you now may able to even fully feel them kicking around! Not only that, but they are now developing the skills to yawn and hiccup, and even their own unique finger and toe prints_! He continued reading on, then looked up to stare at Sakura for a moment. "How much _does_ your back hurt?"

She scoffed as she finished off her sandwich and clapped her hands over the bed to rid them of crumbs. "A lot. My uterus is like, the size of a cantaloupe now so all that weight is causing my center of gravity to change and ugh - it's the worst ache I've ever had. Don't worry anymore than you have to Sasuke I'm not dying because of it."

She giggled when he just looked back to his book stubbornly.

"Anyways.. I've found two names for either a girl or a boy once it's born."

"What are they?"

"Well you aren't telling me yours, so like hell I'm telling you mine." He scoffed with a hint of frustration and looked back to his book. "But they'reeee gooood, don't you want to know?"

"No."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Give me a hint at your names and I'll give you a hint."

"You're not going to know what it is."

Sakura sighed dramatically and flopped back against the bed. "So, what's the situation at your house?"

"I'm letting Karin stay until she finds a place, but she has a few more days left until I'm kicking her out."

"She doesn't know.. About us, right?" He shook his head. "Once she's out, then what?"

He gave her a light shrug. "Move you in?"

"Sasuke!" Sakura shrieked. "I'm not living in the house you two lived in together!"

He looked quite taken back. He already had the nursery painted and he was _not_ doing that again!

"You'll have to find a new house for us." He gave her that look, the one that read 'are you serious?' "It's bad enough that we did this behind her back.. But to kick her out of her house then I mystically appeared all moved in.. I'll feel like an even bigger home wrecker!"

"I like my house." He closed the book as he stared at her with a stern look in his face, hoping that this alone would persuade her to move in with him. "We can even just switch bedrooms."

"If you're not moving then you can get me that real estate magazine and we can be together from different locations." She smiled innocently at him then something hit her. "Oh jeez, what about Naruto? He's going to freak out! Oh he's going to be so angry with you!"

"Naruto didn't even know Karin was his cousin until five years ago-"

"-no not that, when we, you know, go public, he's going to kill you. And he'll be so disappointed in me.."

"Who cares what that dumbass thinks."

She sighed and curled up in her bed facing him, her bambi like eyes growing serious. "What if Karin takes the baby." Her voice wavered with slight fear. "She will get custody, at least shared custody just to spite you."

"Sakura you don't have to worry about Karin."

"I do have to worry about Karin, Sasuke." She sighed gently. "Legally she can do whatever she pleases with this baby, she signed for it. So I will worry."

Sasuke looked deep into her eyes for a brief moment, his serious face never once fading. "Karin has no interest in this baby whatsoever. Not even once has she shown any remote interest in its well being. Like hell she's going to take the time to raise a child on her own without help. She even said it herself that she had no connection with the baby since it wasn't hers. She wouldn't take a baby she has no connection with."

He could still see the worry in her beautiful green eyes and the only thing he wanted to do was erase it. The worry and hint of doubt he saw manifested into tiny little tears that she looked frustrated about and began to wipe them away in an embarrassed manner. Quickly, he gently had her wrists seized in his hands and pulled them away from her crying eyes. She would always try and hide her tears in embarrassment. It stemmed from him being a jerk about her emotions showing through so he vowed never to judge her human emotions again. Her face was red and blotchy from the tears that rolled freely and from the blood that pooled in her cheeks, ripe with embarrassment. He leaned in and gave her a subtle kiss.

"I will do everything in my power to keep her away from our baby."

...

Sasuke tapped on the Hokage's door and without permission, he twisted the doorknob and entered. He saw Naruto behind the desk half asleep with drool dripping from his mouth and a stack of paper work half finished. Sasuke smirked and crossed his arms, waiting for the lazy man to awaken from his slumber. When he didn't and as Sasuke lost his patience, he paced over to the desk and slapped his hand against the wooden desk.

"S-Sasuke! Dammit, you can't just walk in here like that!"

"You weren't doing anything."

"You didn't know that when you walked in, asshole!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and took a step back. "I need some papers."

"Do you see all of these freakin' papers, Sasuke?! I'd be glad if you took them off my hands." Naruto sighed heavily and wiped the few stray papers off of his body and onto the floor then kicked out his legs dramatically.

"Not those kinds of paper, I need legal documentation."

"Yeah, like what? I have no idea where that Grandma kept everything!"

"I know where she kept them." Sasuke stated and paced over to the right where a large grey metal filing cabinet was. He opened up the second from the top and carefully rifled through them with his quick fingers. Finding the papers he needed, he pulled them out from their appropriate tan folders and closed shut the drawer. He wasn't too keen on letting Naruto know what they were, but he needed that signature on the bottom. He paced back over to the desk and slid the papers in a spot that wasn't occupied by stacks of papers.

Naruto sighed and leaned in, his tired and glossy blue eyes slowly scanning over the words.

"Wha?" He picked up the paper between his fingers and squinted at the tiny printed letters.

Sasuke stood there in front of the desk threateningly, not in the mood for Naruto's game of questions. Naruto; however, was not in the mood either, so Sasuke was surprised when Naruto slid the papers back over to him. "It's about time, geesh." Sasuke's brows furrowed but he didn't speak as Naruto fished out a pen from the drawer and began to etch his name down. "I don't even know how you could get married in the first place! She's as loud as me, but then again, I'm not putting all of the blame on her. I bet you did your fair share of being an asshole." He snickered and dropped the pen, showing he was finished.

Sasuke smirked. "And here I thought you'd be angry."

"Well I sort of am. I knew this wasn't going to work in the first place! You should have listened to me!" Naruto laughed to himself. "Karin told me you guys got a surrogate, though, so what's the deal with that? What's gonna happen with that baby?"

Sasuke clenched his teeth and swiped the paper away from the desk while Naruto held up his hands defensively. "I'm just joking around. I wonder if your surrogate knows Sakura, I mean there's only one clinic in this city, right?" The new Hokage didn't even get an answer as Sasuke stormed out of the office.

...

When Sasuke returned to his abode, he burst through the doors to see Karin reading a real estate magazine with a phone in her hand. She stared over her shoulder to him for a split second before her face turned soured and she looked back to her work.

He angrily paced over to the kitchen island and slammed the papers down before her. "Why did you tell Naruto that we hired a surrogate?!"

She scoffed in his face and dramatically flipped the page over. "Why not?! He's my cousin and my only family, I can't tell him whatever I want!"

Sasuke groaned and rubbed his face. "Sign these." He told her and was about to walk away when she pursed her lips together.

"I don't want to sign them, I don't want to sign anything."

"Well you're going to have to." He bit out harshly and shoved the papers closer to her. "No man will ever marry you if you're still married to someone else. So sign them and be off."

He was almost halfway down the hallway before she piped up again. "You know I used to think I was the luckiest girl in all of the lands." He didn't have the patience to stand there and listen to her, so he left her with the final words of 'sign them' and left the house promptly after.

...

Back at the hospital, Sasuke silently slipped through the window in the blackness of the night to see Sakura sleeping soundly in her bed. Those heated blankets surely did wonders for her sometimes restless pregnant nights and he was thankful for it. He could watch her all through the night as she slept without disturbance, her chest slowly rising and falling, the slight hint of a smile that crept upon her lips, the slight twitch of her brows in her dreams, he loved it all. Whenever she wasn't in pain or being blanketed in worry he was a-ok.

Carefully, Sasuke climbed into the large hospital bed alongside the woman he loved and let out a long sigh he needed to let loose. He didn't know how he could bring harm to a loving woman like her throughout most of his life but then he thought maybe through the suffering she and him and both endured it only ensured a stronger bond in the end. He wrapped his left arm around her shoulders slowly and held her body close to his, feeling the pumping of her heart against his side.

In that moment he made the second pledge to himself. His first was earlier when he promised he would do everything in his power to keep their baby safe, but now he made a pledge that no harm would ever come to Sakura from his doings nor someone else's.

* * *

_omg do you guys know how much strep throat sucks? It sucks a lot. I added some more more sasusaku as the hospital environment lets me, so when she gets her butt out of there there will be more, I promise!_

_Do you guys have any idea as to the names Sasuke has? I want to see if anyone guesses right! They are of somewhat significance, but that's all I'm leaving you! I don't want to spoil the gender by somehow letting it slip! hehe_

_Thanks for the reviews, follows, faves! They're fantabulous! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto! _


	30. Chapter 30

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 30-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Today was the day Sakura was being admitted from the hospital room she lived in for a little under a week.

To avoid suspicious eyes Sasuke and Sakura agreed on him not visiting or walking her into the Uchiha district, so Sasuke stayed back at his house like a worry wart, his eyes darting around the living room nervously. Even though Karin had reconnected with an old acquaintance from the old Land of Whirpools a few days back he still believed she was still present in the village. So he paced around in his living room biting his lip. He knew Sakura would be angry since he gave her the address of his current home when she badly wanted a new house, but he had many memories in this house! Like this was his first safe sanctuary after he was released from prison after the trial - he spent most of his days here when he had his chakra bound.

He slipped his index and middle finder through the white blinds and lifted it open to a slit just to see the head of pink hair appearing at his front door.

She knocked furiously against the hard wooden door that was the only thing protecting him from her pregnant wrath. He manned up and opened the door to be face to face with her infuriated expression. "I am not living here..!" She pushed past him and into the living room, setting down her pure white suitcase down beside her legs. "Absolutely am not living here.."

"Calm down." He told her and closed the door with his foot. "There's no other place I want to live other than here. I thought you said you liked the backyard as well..."

"You aren't going to trick me to move in here. There are so many houses in this lot to move into but you're being so stubborn! I'd rather move in with my parents than live in a house where another woman lived."

He sighed like the stubborn little boy she saw him as. If it would make her happy... "Fine;however, there are a few exceptions. The large mansion at the far west wall was the house I grew up in and a house I'm not too keen on living in again. Then there's a house a few blocks down painted with light blue, that house is off limits. Then there's a large apartment above an old weapon shop, that too is not somewhere I'd live." The first house belonged to his parents, the light blue colored house is where Itachi's best friend Shisui grew up, then the last house belonged to his Uncle and Aunt.

She smiled brightly. "So... You're letting me pick?" He nodded and her smile grew even larger. "Well, what do you want in a house, so you don't end up being more upset than you already are."

"I want a large house." He started and watched as she nodded curiously, motioning for him to go on. "It has to have a large backyard as well, near the pond but also near the exit of the district to the main road."

"That's do-able." Her green eyes turned upwards to the ceiling, thinking over the words he had spoken to her. "There's nothing you don't want?"

He shrugged. "Nothing I suppose."

...

Sakura insisted on doing this herself much to his displeasure, but when Sasuke argued with Sakura he knew in the back of his mind he was bound to lose, even if he was right or wrong. So he found himself standing in his living room by himself with his arms crossed over his chest, watching out of the cracked open window for her to return to him. He had his essentials packed, the rest he would request of little newbie genin to move whatever else he wanted to his new house. Sakura highly admired the nursery and gave him a promise that she would go out and find the exact same paint color and have the room set up exactly the same way he had it set up, so he supposed that he would be somewhat alright with this.

About an hour later he saw her face enter his house once again, looking quite proud of herself. "I found a perfect house." She clapped her hands together as her eyes sparkled. "I love it."

Sasuke let out a sigh. He truly loved this house but he supposed to win some he'd have to lose some. He picked up his bag in his right hand, her bag in his left hand and gave her a sideways glance. "Well, show me the way then."

She smiled and nodded and were out of that house in a quick second. She lead him down the road happily, constantly looking back at him with an excited grimace. "Come on, come on!"

He scoffed at her words. The difference in the weight of their luggage was outstanding and caused him to switch arms every few minutes. "Just how much did you pack?"

"I had to buy all new clothes and toiletries, so a lot." She giggled heartily and turned down a road. "It's just down the block, and only two blocks away from the pond and three blocks away from the exit!"

In a few minutes they appeared in front of a large manse. It had a large archway that led them into the front entrance of the abode that connected to a long fence that surrounded the compound. Since it was a few blocks away from the park the trees in this area became more dense, large trees cast long winnowy shadows over the house, protecting the left side of the house from the strong winds that sometimes cursed Konoha. It was an extravagant manse although it was in possession by his father the Head of the Clan, it was held by the second in charge. It was safe to say he liked nice things.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She questioned as she practically hopped down the gravel path toward the front door. "Large front and back yard, near the park like you wanted, near the main road, these beautiful trees overhead.. I never knew houses this big existed, really."

"Is it what you wanted?"

She nodded vigorously. "It's everything I've ever wanted, Sasuke. Now, let's go in. I want to show you the rooms." They entered and Sasuke could finally set down their luggage. He glanced around curiously. It wasn't like his old home, where immediately to the left was the den, this house opened up to a grande foyer. "I know it's a bit much." She laughed and stepped inside further.

_A bit much my ass_. This was a house for royalty! Yes he had wanted a large house but this place... He would find it very tedious work to find his children in this house. And on top of that, older made houses like this one had many nooks and crannies, crawlspaces, hidden rooms every which way, and most likely even an underground bunker. He would have to ban hide-and-seek in this house.

She gripped his hand in her own and pulled him forward gently. "I already picked out the bedrooms." The couple made their way up the grande staircase and she made them turn immediately to the right to face a long corridor. He followed her down the corridor until the very last room to the left. She opened the door to reveal a spacious bedroom he prayed would be theirs. She twirled in and her expression still read as enamored. "This is the master bedroom, so it will be ours. Look, it even has an en suite bathroom, like your old place."

He turned his head to see the already opened bathroom door. He glanced inside and smirked to himself. It was twice the size of his old en suite, so that only meant the claw tub was twice the size, the shower was much larger, and there was enough counter space for two people. This would suffice. The floors beneath their feet was glossy burgundy hardwood floors and the walls were a light beige color, the windows were large and let in a lot of natural light.

"So What do you think? It has the walk in closet like I wanted as well.."

He shrugged casually. "I like it."

She smiled broadly, clapping her hands together. "Great!" She took his hand again and led him out. "This next bedroom is the one for the baby." It just so happened to be the one right beside theirs. She pulled him in and he was pleasantly surprised. "Can you believe that?! Same exact color!" She giggled happily and backed up into the room.

He was mostly happy because now he didn't have to paint again. "Lucky us." This nursery would be large for a baby, larger than a baby would know what to do with it. Did a baby really need a walk in closet? But then again it was an Uchiha baby and Uchiha babies were usually spoiled. "I can have genin team in here to bring the furniture."

"Yeah, we'll have to have the furniture in by tonight." She paced back into his arms and sighed happily. "This house makes me happy."

"You wont be happy when the little brat wont be found anywhere for hours." She looked somewhat frightened.

"What do you mean?"

"Old houses have many hiding spaces that would take us _years_ to find."

"Ehh?! Then I don't want to live here!"

"Well it's too late." He smirked and pulled her closer to his chest. "Let's just hope we wont piss that kid off too much to make them want to hide from us in a space where they can get stuck."

"Sasuukee!" She cried dramatically, pounding her clenched fists on his chest lightly. "We'll have to find all of those places right now!"

"Impossible." He took a step back away from her and motioned outside of the room. "Show me the backyard."

Even though she had a somewhat defeated face on, she led him back down the stairs and through the foyer until they found themselves in front of two glass doors hidden by white drapes. She opened them up and threw open the doors, revealing the large backyard he had asked for. Sheltered by a large beige wall, it was safe for little children that had tendencies to run around without thinking twice about staying within their parents eyes. There was a large willow tree in the furthest left corner with a small man made pond underneath it. It was enough room for children to train.

"Unlike your old house, there's space here for kids to play." She began to explain as she absentmindedly began to rub her belly. "If you look just over the wall you can see the pond in the park. You told me that's where your father taught you the Fireball Jutsu, right?"

He simply nodded as his eyes laid upon the large pond a few blocks away, memories flashing through his head of his father watching him with stern black beady eyes. That was the reason why he wanted to live near this park because he knew one day he'd be teaching his children the Clan 'initiation' technique. He never wanted to admit it, but he'd been looking forward to that for a while.

After the two reveled in the sun for a while, Sakura said she'd be out to buy groceries and shop a little bit more with Ino so Sasuke could have time to have a Genin team in to bring new furniture in, not wanting them to see her in his house. She kissed him goodbye and left the house.

The house was already outfitted with a home phone, which he vaguely knew how to use, so he disregarded its presence and left immediately to the Hokage tower.

"Naruto." Without knocking yet again, Sasuke appeared before the baffled blonde Hokage. "I need a Genin team."

"Seriously you can't just barge in like that!" Naruto barked with a frustrated tone, his face scrunched up in agony.

"You barge into my house all of the time." He reminded him as he drew closer into the room and noticed they were not alone. Hinata was off to the side looking shy as ever with Rock Lee by her side. He gave a half nod in their direction but looked back to Naruto. "Now about that team I need.."

"Sasuke I literally have mountains of work about problems I didn't even know existed! I don't have tiiiiime!" He whined and motioned to the evident self-speaking papers haphazardly placed around his desk.

"Yes, well it's your job as _Hokage_ to assign a Genin team a mission. I need my furniture moved." Naruto sighed heavily and buried his face into his hands, making weeping noises.

"Sasuke!" Rock Lee stepped forward with a clenched fist high in the air, his eyes sparkling. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I was here to get a mission for my own team of Genin! It would be an honor upon them all to help you move your furniture!"

He shrugged. "As long as they can do it quickly, fine. I need it moved into my new house within a few hours."

"Of course! They will move with alacrity!" He punched the air enthusiastically. "Just show us the coordinates of your old home and new home!" Sasuke gave him both addresses and watched as he bounded out of the room.

He was about to leave the room when a firm hand placed itself upon his shoulder. He looked behind him to Naruto's stern face.

"Here, Sasuke." Naruto held a couple of papers in his hands and shoved it in his hands. The Hokage gave him a nod before returning to his seat.

Sasuke glanced down to the papers and began to scour over to lettering until he hit one distinct thing. There was his signature. _Sasuke Uchiha_. Then there was the Hokage's signature, _Naruto Uzumaki_, then the previously blank line was filled up. _Karin Uzumaki_.

* * *

_The papers have been signed! Hallelujah, praise the lords! Sasuke's a free man and Karin a free woman! Not only that, but Sasuke and Sakura have moved in together! How cute! Also I just cannot wait for this baby to be born! I have so many ideas for after the baby is born but I'm afraid the chapters would be long and make this story a bit too stretched so either I.. 1) End the story but shorten what I'd originally write. 2) Upload it as a different story with many of my ideas all compiled into short stories and one-shots? :) I have so many ideas augh_

_Thanks so much for the lovely reviews/follows/faves! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	31. Chapter 31

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 31-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Naruto took back the papers but gave Sasuke a photo-copied version of the certificate. Sasuke mumbled a thanks and disappeared from the office.

When he returned to his new home he spotted the three genin struggling to carry the stainless steel refrigerator. He hadn't expected them to carry something like that, but he supposed when you had Rock Lee as a Sensei he wouldn't think twice about the possibility of breaking your back. He smirked as he walked past the three trying to carry it up the few steps, they grumbled as he did so, whining that he could carry his own things if he was part of the great Uchiha Clan. He couldn't really remember where anything was except his bedroom, so he wandered off to the left and thankfully found the kitchen Sakura had not yet introduced him to. It was amazingly bigger and better than his old kitchen, with deep burgundy cabinets, white marble counter tops, a large island smack in the middle with a sink, and a bay window that looked out to the backyard. He imagined Sakura watching the children from that window and smiled.

He noticed his stove was already brought in and placed where it should have been, then the Genin hauled ass and placed the fridge where it belonged. They dragged their feet through the rest of the house, whining that they wanted S ranked missions. He shook his head with a smug smirk.

Hours later the majority of his furniture was moved in. The baby's things were all hauled into the specified room, a brand new King sized bed was constructed in his master suite, and everything else was sourly brought in. Boy, he liked these Genin.

He paid the sour little shits and shooed them away from his house, and it took him a little while longer to get Rock Lee the hell away from his house.

He was grateful when Sakura returned so he'd have good company that wouldn't remind him of the Springtime of Youth.

"Wow! Look at all of the work they did!" Sakura happily cried out with a large brilliant smile on her face, glancing around the room at all of the furniture they had either brought from his old home or ones they ordered from the magazines while she was still hospitalized. "I love it!"

Sasuke carefully took the heavy groceries from her hands and placed them on the marble counter top. "I don't trust what you bought." He stated, since knowing the last time he went shopping for her needs and wants he was thoroughly disgusted. He could hear her laugh from behind him as he opened up the paper bags to glance inside. Thankfully he only saw normal things like dairy products, fruit and veggies, a bag of whole grain rice, and an assortment of goodies.

"Are you still distrusting me and my grocery buying skills?" She wrapped her arms around around his waist and snuggled her face into his chest.

"You're safe for now." He withdrew his hands from the bag and wrapped them back around her frame, thinking about when he would show her the papers.

"Oh, Sasuke, do you have that little book of yours?" Sakura peered up to him with a gentle smile. "My feet are sore and I want to sit down, so what's better than sitting down and reading that little book about the baby?" She let him go once he nodded and headed toward the den as he left to retrieve the book. She stood in front of the couch until he returned.

"If your feet are so sore why are you just standing?" He questioned her skeptically as he took a seat on the extremely comfortable couch then watched as she answered, crawling onto the couch and curling up at his side. She swiped the book from his hands with a smile and and flipped it open, letting the pages fly open before her eyes until the top read **WEEK 19.**

"_Your baby is about half a pound in weight and about six inches long_, wow! _One minute you're lying peacefully in bed and the next your calf muscle feels like it's about to explode_. That's really true, so if I wake up during the night in pain it's nothing to worry about unless I say otherwise. The rest here doesn't talk about much you probably haven't heard before..." She closed the book and rested it beside them on the couch, snuggling back into his embrace.

They stayed there for a little while longer in complete blissful silence until Sasuke put his hand in his pocket. "I have something to show you." He clutched the papers in his fingers and pulled it out, piquing her curiosity.

"What is it?"

He opened up the few pieces of paper and placed it in her awaiting hands and pointed to the bottom of the page with his index finger. "Right there..."

She sternly read the letters on the page until her mouth made an 'o' shape and her eyes widened greatly. "She... She signed them! Really!?" She stared at Sasuke in complete awe and surprise and when he nodded she threw her arms around him with a loud huff. "I thought she'd never sign them...!"

"Me too."

"Did you talk to her about the baby?!" He shook his head.

"No, I didn't see her for a while after I served her with papers, but I will talk to her. I do not see her ever wanting this child."

"Alright." She sighed and rubbed her hands along his chest. "I just want the baby right now, I don't want to wait any longer. In a week it will be halfway through the pregnancy - only half! I don't want to keep waiting!" She threw her head back. "And I'm just so happy she finalized the divorce..!"

He smirked and re-wrapped his arms around her, watching her with tender eyes he thought she could never notice. Seeing her so happy made himself incredibly happy.

"So, you said you'd name the baby depending on what it looked like. If it doesn't look like what you want to name it, can I choose the name? I mean if you're okay with it..." He nodded.

"Go ahead, as long as it isn't stupid sounding." He gently pressed his hands to her belly and tried to focus on the baby in hopes that his hands would spark a movement. All he wanted was to feel his child stirring. "Do you want your mother to name you something stupid?"

"Sasuuke." Sakura whined playfully, smacking at his hands before replacing her hands over his. "My child will love their name regardless of if it sounds stupid or not."

"It has to be a name suited for an Uchiha."

"Pff, what names are 'suited for Uchiha?'"

"Strong names." He told her. "Not names like-"

"-like mine." She joked with a little giggle. "I know, not names based off of flowers or trees. Names that have meanings like strength, or nobility, or honor. My names are far from trees or flowers so nothing to worry."

...

With a month flying by, Sakura and Sasuke found themselves at the clinic for a check up once more.

Ms. Nao gently spread the gel around the prominent belly that held their child and flicked on a switch on the ultrasound machine, earning a low humming noise. Not wanting to let the woman know of their secret relationship Sasuke refrained from sitting too close to the chair which Sakura was laying down in even though he wanted to be up close with her and share this moment as a couple.

An image sparked on the screen, revealing the black and orange 3D image of the ultrasound and the little sleeping face of the Uchiha baby. It had it's own defined little nose and a set of lips to go along with it, and not to mention those tiny little fingers..

"Oh wow, isn't that amazing, Sasuke?" Sakura cooed gently, her eyes glued to the screen, taking in every single little breathtaking detail that belonged to their child. "Look at those little fingers and tiny toes! How cute.."

To be honest, he didn't quite like seeing the ultrasound images. It made him more and more impatient to wait for his child to enter this world, especially since they were only a few weeks passed the halfway mark. When he saw this images it was like a trick, showing him a baby that was not there for him to hold and love. Hearing the heartbeat was another story, though, ever since Sakura told him that if they couldn't hear that heartbeat it would only be bad news, causing him to want to hear that heartbeat all the time.

"You know.." Ms. Nao began to speak, revolving the transducer on the curve of Sakura's abdomen, "my Grandmother who tends to the files here, told me that Uchiha babies are quite fussy. She used to be a nanny in her youth and she was hired by an Uchiha family with two little newborn twins. She said that they were very picky and had to be with somebody at all times or else they would cry."

Sakura laughed heartily while Sasuke felt somewhat embarrassed by this revelation. His mother had told him about how dependent he was when he was just a baby and that he either had to have her or Itachi with him. He didn't think it was an Uchiha 'trait' until Ms. Nao said it, but he began to remember how he whined when his mother told him that in an embarrassed manner until she whispered with a small smile that Itachi was the same way.

"Sasuke, you're going to have your hands full." Sakura joked with a warm smile and sneakily gave him a wink.

He prayed that Sakura's genes would leave the baby with a calm demeanor.

When they were returning home in a secret fashion they spotted somebody they didn't think they'd see in a while. They were only just turning into the Uchiha district, Sakura with a smile on her face and Sasuke with a smirk on his, when they ran into the woman. Sakura immediately let go of his hand and her whole body stiffened with a thick gulp. Sasuke;however, took a step forward between the women cautiously, his onyx eyes looking the woman over.

The other woman's crimson eyes scanned the two over before an angry smirk tugged at her lips. "I cant believe this." She started, taking a cautionary step away from the two yet kept her composure threatening. "I should have know something was up... But you can believe I'm not giving up my rights on that baby."

* * *

_bumbumBUM. Big time skip but it needed to be done. Karin, is that you? KARIN?!_

_Wanna her a secret? I used to absolutely HATE SAKURA WITH A PASSION. I hated her character, everything about her, her looks, the way she talked, literally everything, but upon reading the manga and reading some speculation, I decided that was where Sasuke was probably going to lean towards. I started this fic still pretty much not liking her character then continuing writing this I basically loved her character and this paring. Weird, amiright? So tell me if she gets OOC because she isn't a character I've been writing with for a long time like a lot of you._

_Thanks for the reviews and follows and faves! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!_


	32. Chapter 32

_Surrogacy _

_-chapter 32- _

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Sakura was silent for the good part of the rest of the day.

When she got up off the couch she began to make some of her favorite flavored tea while Sasuke watched her with a somewhat worried eye. When finished, she took a seat on the bar stool at the large kitchen island, gripping her hands around her tea for its warmth. Her mouth opened to speak but furious knocks at their front door echoed through the house, sending a chill down her spine. She glanced over to Sasuke who had already left the kitchen to get to the door. She took a quick, nervous sip and slid off her stool and began to pad over to the large doorway that connected the kitchen to the foyer. She opened the door a crack and peeked in with a single emerald eye, seeing Sasuke reach over for the front door handle.

When he opened the door a blur of orange, black, and yellow rocketed through the doorway in an ear shattering mess of yelling. She'd have to be honest - she knew Sasuke could deal with Karin better than Naruto.

When the two boys composed themselves, Naruto threw a finger up to him. "YOU!" He yelled with a fierce, threatening voice, his brows meeting in the middle angrily. "YOU'RE 'SCREWIN AROUND WITH SAKURA'?!"

Sasuke stood there, giving Naruto the 'look' that could convince anybody they were wrong even if they were right. "And who told you that? Karin, let me guess." Naruto furiously nodded. "She'd say anything to make me look bad after our divorce."

"No!" The blonde furiously shook his head, his face still twisted into an angrily sour one. "I should have known when I see the way you two look at each other! It's so friggan' obvious!" As Sakura was adjusting her footing from her uncomfortable angle to peek in through the crack in the door, the wooden floor squeaked beneath her feet, loud and clear.

"Oh shoot!" She whispered and tried to step around the creaky area but was only angered to find out this entire area had loud floorboards. Cautiously, she began to tiptoe away (as much as she could with this heavy belly) but screeched a tiny bit when a hand wrapped around her upper arm. She twirled around to see Naruto's face which left her in an embarrassed fit of giggles. "Oh h-hey there N-Naruto..."

"You're not stupid Sakura! I know what's up!" The Hokage withdrew his grip on the woman's arm and crossed his arms over his chest to give him a childish little boy look. "You, Sakura, are messin' around with him?! WITH HIM?!"

Sakura let out a small, shaky breath and gave him a look of defeat, no matter how much Sasuke looked like he didn't want to deal with this at this moment. She didn't want to deal with it either, but Naruto was one of the most stubborn people besides Sasuke and he'd never leave without answers. "Naruto... It's not like that.."

"Pffft, yes it is. I can see it in your eyes, your're a horrible liar Sakura!"

"I'm not lying!" She stated defensively. "You've probably just heard all of the wrong things.."

"Everything about this is wroooonngg! I thought you were over himm!" He whined like a child, puffing out his lips dramatically. "This isn't how I pictured iiit."

"Then how did you picture it?" Sasuke questioned from behind him with a skeptical look in his eyes.

"I was gonna marry Hinata, Sakura was going to find a NICE man, and you were going to die alone like I always knew you would!"

The two boys took threatening steps toward each other, so Sakura as the permanent Team 7 peacemaker, took a step in between them. "Alright alright, both of you stop." She gave both of them serious glares. "Let's just all calm down..."

"But Sakura, you're nice, he's not! I was convinced you were over him!"

"Well apparently not, Naruto. What's done is done." She let out a long breath of air and took a step back toward the island to get her tea and take a small sip.

"Karin... Also told me something else that makes me want to knock your lights out, Sasuke!" Naruto growled, raising a clenched fist. "I didn't give two craps about you and her getting a surrogate, BUT SAKURA?! AFTER EVERYTHING YOU USE HER?!"

"Believe me, he didn't want to use me as a surrogate at first." She quickly took another gulp from her tea, knowing this was bound to be a long day full of arguing.

"SASUKE, LITERALLY AFTER ALL OF THAT SHIT YOU'D USE HER FOR THAT?! FOR NINE FREAKIN' MONTHS?!"

"I didn't want to use her."

"Naruto, I was the only surrogate available at the time, and he isn't getting any younger. It didn't start off like _this_."

"Whaa?"

Sakura sighed and took yet another sip. "I became a surrogate for Sasuke and Karin, much to his chagrin. Everything was done with the assistance of a doctor - so no, we weren't _happening_ at that point."

"What time did you start happening - I mean it's been a little over a month since they divorced and you're already moved in!?" Both Sasuke and Sakura stayed quiet now. It was one thing for them to be together now, but being 'together' while Sasuke was still married with Karin was a whole other story. Naruto took their silence as his answer. "Nasty!" He screeched and rounded to face Sasuke. "You cheated on Karin!? Bah! I thought that would be one of the first things you were taught, y'know, 'prestigious' clan upbringing and everything!? And Sakura, you know better than that! You're one of the smartest girls I know!"

"Heh, then maybe I'm not as smart as you thought, Naruto.."

Naruto let out a big sigh. "I guess you're still one of the smartest girls I know, but Sasuke's even stupider than I originally took him for."

"Even so, I'm still smarter than you."

After Sakura took another sip of her tea to relieve her growing stress, she forced the two to shut up which led them to calm down just like she had hoped for. Naruto's anger and hurt was understandable. They were his two best friends since their formation of team 7 and keeping a secret like this from him would be hurtful, since they all mostly knew each other inside out. Though she smiled when once he calmed down and was brought back to his reasonable senses, he stated that if it made her happy then he'd have to step back, but he'd kill Sasuke if he ever brought harm to her. She laughed. It was just like the good ol' days.

Before he left he threatened Sasuke some more before slamming the door behind him, never once bringing the topic of the baby up.

So once again Sakura found her seat on the bar stool at the island once more with fresh, warm tea in her hand. She closed her eyes to think once more and when she reopened them she found Sasuke standing on the other side of the island, watching her intently. She gave him a half smile before sipping at her beverage. "What? Why are you just staring at me?"

"Why not?"

"Well.. Because? I don't know what to say."

He shrugged. "You haven't said a word since we ran into her earlier."

She licked her dry lips nervously. She was in shock, yes; however, she hated the noise of Naruto arguing so she only spoke when needed. She should have seen it coming. She was the other woman, not the mom of this baby. She was the biological mother but not the woman to raise it and she failed to recognize this since she was blinded by love. "I just don't have anything to say about it."

"I know you have many things to say about it." He frowned and pressed on, knowing it isn't healthy for her to bottle up her emotions which was a common occurrence with her.

"I really don't have anything to say about it, my opinion doesn't compare to a legally signed document. You and her will have shared custody of that child, nothing more to it, and it's not like you can bicker with Naruto for full custody - whatever dirt you have on her she'll have it ten times worse on you."

"That's true." He gave her that but she didn't understand the way Karin worked like he did. "She's all bark but no bite. Once we were married she was _actually_ quiet and tried to avoid me out of embarrassment and shyness. She didn't know what to do. Now imagine that happening with her and a baby." She glanced up at him with a small flicker of hope. "She's not going to know what to do with it. She may say her 'maternal instincts' will kick in once the baby is born but after that she'll have no idea as to what comes next."

"I suppose..." She gave him a faint smile and gripped her cup a little more in her fingers, the warmth calming her frayed nerves.

"So don't take anything she says to heart because it's untrue."

"But let's say she does keep it because maybe she marries a man that's going to use her for this baby with the blood of an Uchiha. The majority of the court cases rules that mothers get five days out of the week with their child while the father gets custody on weekends. Is that something you want?"

"No it's not something that I want but I know that that is the last thing that's going to happen."

"Or she could argue for full custody, bring it up with the court that you may be an unsuitable father and have them bring up your folder. They may give her full custody based on the very thin line you were walking all those years ago." He blinked, not looking all too impressed. Boy, he really didn't have any fear. "Or she could take that baby and sell it! I wouldn't be surprised if that crossed her mind at all in the span of a month, taking that you didn't give her a penny of your wealth and she'll be needing cash to support herself. She could probably keep herself afloat for the rest of her life if she took that baby and found some scum that would only raise that child-"

"Calm down." He told her simply yet lacking the rude attitude he always donned. "If you get too worked up you'll get upset over nothing. So just drink your tea."

She would have rolled her eyes but something else held her attention. "I think the baby can understand we're talking about it..." She smiled and glanced down to her abdomen which on the inside was bursting with activity. Normally when their child was this active Sasuke was either on a mission or too far away in the house to get to her side quick enough. She placed her left hand over the surface of her stomach and felt the tiny little kick. "Sasuke, come here, the baby is moving enough for you to feel!"

Sasuke was at her side in an instant. She snatched his hand and quickly placed it upon her belly, just to the place where she last felt them kicking about. She felt it wiggle a tiny bit then there it was - the kick! "Wow!" She exasperated with a large smile on her face, absolutely beaming with pride. This baby may be claimed by another woman but that wouldn't stop her from loving it and taking pride in it.

She glanced over to her right to read his facial expression. His brows were a tiny bit scrunched - he was obviously in deep thought. When the baby finally got tuckered out from their little workout, Sasuke withdrew his hand, blinking a few times without a word. She raised a brow at him when he finally looked at her.

"Well?"

He blinked once more before giving her a tiny nod. She laughed and propped up an elbow against the island top. "So is that a good thing?!" She continued laughing. He looked simply amazed! "Look at you, you look stunned Sasuke! Tell me what you're thinking! You just felt your baby move for the very first time."

Sasuke was known as a man of very few words, so she guesses it was hard for him to come up with the words to describe how he felt, but somehow, she should have seen this coming.

"Well, I'd only expect as much from an Uchiha."

* * *

_wow the baby kicked for the first time! And Naruto knows! -gasp- I'll take a poll: How many of you think Karin will act and keep her rights for the baby or not have any interest in it and let Sasuke keep it? Also, there will be a time skip because I'm running out of little ideas, but if you guys want something that's easy, cute, whatever, tell me! _

_Thanks for the reviews! Keep em' coming! Also big thanks to the follows and faves! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	33. Chapter 33

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 33-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

At 32 weeks pregnant, Sakura was feeling like a piece of crap.

She was stuck sitting on the couch on a beautiful day because her legs were absolutely throbbing with aches. She was rubbing moisturizing cream on her itchy itchy pregnant belly in her last ditch effort not to claw her skin off from the unbearable itches that ran all over. Her uterus was hardening periodically to prepare for the real, soon to come contractions and those were just painful on their own and she also had to go out and buy herself nursing pads to stuff in her bra to keep herself dry from leakage. The worst part for her is that she has to endure this all by herself since Naruto, out of revenge, sent Sasuke on a mission that would take up to six days and promised he would take care of her until he returned. She growled angrily as she sat on the couch because that idiot had not even visited once.

But then again she wouldn't want anybody to see her in this awful condition, but with her luck, the door was knocked on roughly five times, echoing through the large house five times rapidly. She threw her head back and groaned. "Why nooow?" She stretched her legs out carefully, set them on the hardwood floors, and pushed herself up slowly from her comfy sitting position, holding a hand to the small of her back. With another groan, she walled through the den of the house and padded through the foyer as more knocks sounded against the door. "Hold on!" She growled and wrapped her fingers around the doorknob, praying to the Gods it wasn't Karin and her wrath she'd bring.

She opened the door to see two pairs of blue eyes, one angry, one not. "Ah!" Sakura squeaked right before she was pulled into a carefully big hug by the angry eyes while the other laughed to themselves. "W-what are you doing here, Ino..?" With a shocked expression, Sakura pulled away from the woman to assess her. She still looked rather angry.

"I haven't seen you in ages Sakura! I only see you when you're at the hospital which is rarely!" The blonde woman screeched loudly, inviting herself into the large manse. "I had to bribe Naruto to bring me to you!"

Sakura glanced over at Naruto with a semi angry face. She didn't particularly want people knowing she wasn't staying with her parents at the time, nor did she want her parents finding out she wasn't with Ino. "Naruto, you weren't supposed to say anything!"

"I'm your best friend Sakura you have to tell me these things..." Ino growled playfully, twirling around in the foyer slowly, taking in it's enormous size. "I don't care if you didn't move in with your parents but... WITH SASUKE?! THESE ARE THINGS I REALLY HAVE TO KNOW!"

"I'm sorry Ino." The pinkette scratched the back of her head, unsure of what to say or where to begin for that matter. "I've just been so busy with all this pregnancy stuff."

"But when were you planning on telling me these things?! This was like, something we talked about when we were kids for years, for literally years Sakura! Look at this freakin' house!" Ino skipped further down the foyer, her big blue eyes widening with awe. "A big freakin' house for tons of kids with Sasuke!" As Ino studied almost everything in just this first room, Sakura glanced over at Naruto.

"Why didn't you visit me in the past five days?" Her face turned stern and he immediately looked threatened, backing away.

"B-because S-Sakura! I've got Hokage t-things to do..."

"I wont sic Sasuke on you if you return here promptly with ice cream, please." She placed her hand on her back with a slight wince of pain to earn his sympathy, which worked its magic the way she needed when he nodded furiously.

"Alright, I'll be right back!" With that, the Hokage was off in a flash.

Sakura waddled back over to Ino's side just in time for the barrage of questions. "Wait." Sakura held her hand up quickly. "If we're going to talk for a long time, can we please sit down? My back and legs are so sore." The blonde nodded and the two girls made their way into the den and onto the couches, then her mouth reopened.

"So.. When the hell did this happen?! I mean it's been months, but like, I didn't even notice a build up!" The woman cried out dramatically, grabbing a pillow from behind her and holding it close, her eyes turning sharp. "And I always notice these things, especially with you."

She stretched her legs out on her couch and let out a sigh. "It was after that stunt with Sadao. I can't really explain it because it happened so fast."

"Hmmm..." Ino tapped her fingers against her chin, in deep thought. "But what about that demon woman?"

"They divorced almost two months ago."

"I would have known that if you told me!" Ino looked mortified. She was always the one that knew these things, especially these kind of sneaky things but when it came to Sasuke and Sakura she was always left on the outs. "Well... Good! I hated her! But I'm pretty sure the thing with Sadao happened before that..." Sakura gave her 'the look.' "Oh my God Sakura, before they even separated?"

"Well it's not like I planned for that to happen!"

"You naughty girl!"

"Ugh."

"Ok ok." Ino laughed to herself and returned to her deep thought process. "So, if you're together and all, how long do you think it'll take him to put a ring on it and put a baby in you? Y'know, after this one is gone."

Sakura's eyes widened and thanked the Gods when Naruto stumbled in. "Jeez Sakura, could you have chosen a bigger house? Took me ages to find the room you were in!" In his arms he was carrying a large brown paper bag, stuffed to the rim with Gods know what. He set it down on the floor and rummaged through it. "You never told me what you liked Sakura, and they only had the three popular flavors! Matcha, chocolate, and strawberry, and different flavored mochi ice cream.."

She laughed gently when he looked terrified. "Those are great Naruto, thank you! I think I'll have the mochi..." She sat up straight and rifled through the bag until she fond what she was looking for while Ino told Naruto they wouldn't be able to eat these without spoons, which he nodded and ran off for the kitchen.

The two woman settled on the couches happy with their ice cream, yet Sakura knew Ino was still awaiting an answer. "Well." She started after she took a delicious first bite of her mochi ball. "Here's the thing, Ino, and I *have* to trust that you wont tell everybody.. Okay?" Ino nodded furiously. "Well, you see, the couple I'm a surrogate for just so happens to be Karin and Sasuke since Karin does not have eggs..." Her blue eyes widened. "So... This baby is Sasuke's..."

"Oh my God Sakura." She repeated herself, her mouth opening agape. "Oh... My God. YOU ARE CARRYING HIS BABY?! SASUKE UCHIHA'S BABY?! FORGET ABOUT YOU BEING TOGETHER WITH HIM AND LIVING TOGETHER..."

"I know, I know.."

Ino dove in close, wrapping her arms around Sakura's swollen abdomen. "Hello little baby! Do you know how much your mommy talked about having you when she was barely a teenager?" She snickered and to her amazement, said little baby gave her a kick in the face. She withdrew her face. "Jeez, that is Sasuke's baby."

Sakura laughed heartily and rubbed her belly in appreciation. "Yep, this little baby is full of energy. Always kicking and punching me in there.." She giggled as her little one wiggled around some more, reacting to it's mothers touch. "Definitely his baby."

"And with your strength, those kicks and punches must really hurt!"

"Heh, sometimes they're uncomfortable but the baby has began to sleep a lot."

"...Is that normal?"

She nodded. "Yes. They just tucker themselves easily and need to preserve strength for when they're born."

"Do you know the gender?!"

She nodded again. "I do, but I don't want to tell people. I want it to be a surprise."

"Does Sasuke know? I mean I think he'd want to know if he was gonna have a son or not."

"He actually doesn't. He'd rather wait until the baby was born, and I don't think it matters to him whether he has a boy or girl first."

"Awww, that's so sweet! Can you imagine Sasuke with a teeny tiny little baby girl? That'd be so cute! Now, if only Shikamaru would act like a man and just propose..."

With a few more hours of chatting, Ino realized she told her mother that she'd only be on break for half an hour before returning to the shop and hurried out of the door, waving her goodbye's to both Sakura and the baby. So she waddled from the front door back into the living room and retook her seat on the couch, slowly rubbing her belly as the fake contractions returned.

"Oh why do you do this to me little baby?" She groaned to herself, rubbing the spot where the little one had just kicked. "Don't you want to sleep like you always do sweet little baby? I'm already in so much pain." She stretched her legs out further and cracked her back as much as she could. Still, her little one continued to wiggle around with energy and she laughed faintly because maybe this baby could just understand what she was talking about. "Uuugghh."

"What's wrong?!"

"Ack!" Her eyes flew open when minutes later a voice shattered through her silent bliss and a pair of startled onyx eyes appeared before her. "Sasuke!" A smile found its way to her face as she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him close. To be honest she really just wanted to wrap her arms around something and squeeze as hard as she could to rid herself of these pains but she'd choke the poor man till he was rendered unconscious. He pulled away, still startled and looking her over more than once.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke was still clothed in his anbu attire with a few scrapes on on his cheek with a teensy bit of dried blood covering the area. "Why are you in pain?" It was just so cute to see him this way.

"Sasuke look at you, you're a mess." She placed the palms of her hands on his cheeks and gently brushed his skin with her thumb. He grabbed her wrists with his hands and stared deep into her eyes with his piercing coal eyes.

"Answer me." He stated, looking between her eyes and her large pregnant belly. "Now."

"Fake contractions is all, Sasuke."

As if the first word never applied to him, he looked quite taken back. "Contractions?!"

"FAKE contractions, you never listen."

"What are those?"

"My uterus is basically working out before the actual birth."

"Will they harm the baby?"

"No."

"Do you promise?"

"Yes!" She retook his face in her palms and gently squished his cheeks to puff out his lips slightly. "You need to calm down! This baby will be fiiiiine and if it was anywhere near harm than I would annihilate that harm, okay?" She moved his face so he was forced to nod. "The only thing that's wrong is that this baby wont stop moving and kicking around."

The worry looked as if it jumped right from his body and he stared down at her belly and placed his large hands upon it, feeling the stirring within her himself. Even though his facial expression never really changed she could tell just how amazed he was. "Are you excited?" She reached over and gently ran her fingers through his locks as he found a more comfortable position on the couch. He gave her a slight nod. "I don't think you'll be too happy when that baby is up all night crying since all Uchiha babies are 'fussy.'"

He gave her a shrug. "It's normal for babies to cry."

"When they're teenagers you're going to absolutely hate them." She giggled lightly and leaned her head back, enjoying the attention he was giving her after five days of not seeing him. "If it's a girl and she starts running off with boys and sneakin' out at night..."

Sasuke looked angrily horrified. "That wont be happening in my house." She laughed maniacally.

"Or if it's a boy and he's gone for days on end, starts back-talking you, and God forbids gets a girl pregnant? What about then?"

She giggled innocently when Sasuke looked absolutely murderous. "That little.." She merely shook her head.

"Okay okay, calm down. I'm just playing with you." She wiggled down on the couch so her face was underneath his own face and she gently 'booped' his nose. "Whatever it is I'm sure we can handle it." Sakura pulled his face down toward her own and gave him a much needed kiss. Even if she knew they could trek through the hardships this child would surely bring them she prayed that she'd be there for them.

* * *

_Yeah, it was a big time skip but there wasn't much to put in there. I hope the time skip wasn't too much, but it's so tedious writing day by day week by week. There will be a Karin chapter next! _

_THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! I have a few special thanks to some reviewers! The first would be to 'NOOOOOO' for the 250th review! (LOL) Wow, I never thought it would reach that! Hehe! The next thanks would be to the long and lovely review by xXRosexScorpiusXx (love the username by the way). I really loved the in depth review! I'm glad someone isn't against me for my bad treatment to Karin hehe! You have all of the points I was portraying so I'm super glad you caught all of those! Thanks so much! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto _


	34. Chapter 34

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 34-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

She didn't really know what to say. He was gone, out of sight, and the only thing she could focus on were those damned papers. Pristine white papers with fine inked letters that even though she couldn't read from this angle she knew what they said. She slapped her hand down upon them and pulled them in front of her face on the counter beneath her and read those lines lazily. She had no cares for what they said because it meant nothing to her. No pen in her hand would ever touch this paper.

"Like hell I'll sign these." She slid them away and slid them right out of mind. Like she stated earlier, they meant nothing to her. She went about her day normally, which consisted of almost nothing. To prove the jerk wrong, though, she called up an old friend from the Land of Whirpools that she knew lived in Suna. After all, she'd need someone to have her back, so she invited her over to Konoha which the woman readily agreed to. Once she set the phone back in its cradle she sat at the island in _his_ kitchen with a sour look upon her face. After everything they'd been through he'd really serve her with divorce papers? She just wanted to smash his face into pieces!

She knew it took roughly three days to get from Suna to Konoha so she'd have to grit her teeth and stick around Sasuke for the duration of that time, because the money she stockpiled over the years would last her about a week in a hotel plus food. She'd just push through the three days living in this house, which she thanked Sasuke barely ever returned to, and then vanish. In the back of her mind she hoped he'd come to his senses and rip up those papers.

Pushing that thought aside, Karin took to her feet and called somebody else, who she knew was on break at this moment and made plans for the day. "Yeah that's right, stupid Sasuke, I _can_ go outside." She grinned triumphantly and got ready for her hopefully adventurous day.

She made her way through the streets with somewhat new eyes. Normally she wouldn't care about what the outside world had to offer her but when Sasuke finally drilled it into her head that she spent too much time at home she tried to see what was out there. There were tons of people. She didn't quite like people. They were annoying and judgmental. There was cuisine you wouldn't normally shop for, there was that. She didn't need the aspect of fresh air since she always tended to the garden and that always eased her mind, so she wasn't lacking in that department.

That's when she spotted Jūgo, waiting for her at the specified location. He was still clothed in his blue scrubs and his long pristine lab coat with a few pens stuck in the pocket of his left breast. When he saw her his lips curled slightly and he gave her a slight nod. "Karin." He greeted as she walked up to him. "Long time no see."

"Yeah. I heard you barely get to leave the hospital since you're quite the popular doctor at the hospital." She laughed as he looked somewhat embarrassed, taking a quick sip of his plastic water bottle.

"I suppose, though no one compares to Doctor Haruno." She silently grit her teeth. "She's been hospitalized after the Sound attacked the village, so I've been covering many of her shifts."

"I didn't know she was hospitalized." They began walking down the street idly. "The last I saw her that night _my_ husband whisked her away.. What happened to her?"

"I'm surprised Sasuke didn't tell you, since she is carrying your child. The building beside her apartment was rigged and destroyed her complex from its power. Nothing to worry about, though, your child is fine."

She only mildly wished that woman could have been blown to smithereens. "He doesn't tell me anything anymore. He served me with papers. Can you believe that jerk?"

Jūgo actually looked somewhat surprised as he furrowed his brows at this revelation. "I'll have to admit, I wouldn't have seen that coming." He stated as they took opposite seats around a metal round table outside a small cafe, Karin looking more distraught than ever, he saw. "I'm sorry to hear that. What will you do now?"

"Well I'm not going to sign them, obviously." She gave him a 'duh' look which lead him to be somewhat baffled, his brows meeting in the middle.

"Why not?"

"...Because I don't think he means it! I think he's just trying to scare me!" A waitress calmly set down two glasses of ice water with a wedge of lemon in front of the two. She didn't like the perplexed look on the mans face.

"Have you ever known Sasuke to be a man that didn't mean something he says?"

She groaned and nodded slightly to his words, raking her fingers through her hair dramatically before taking a shaky sip of her drink. "Yeah, I know..." She whispered as she toyed with her napkin. "I just never saw this happening to us."

"You and Sasuke always did have clashing personalities when we.. Were a group. I never foresaw a relationship between you two, at least not a healthy one at that. Aren't there some aspects to Sasuke you don't enjoy?"

"Lots. Ever since the attack from Sound, when he saved Sakura over me he hasn't been home, and then he returns just to divorce me. I mean before that he'd been acting so cold to me, more than usual at least." She scoffed and took a long swig of her water.

Jūgo licked his lips. He'd refrain from telling her he'd seen Sasuke a lot more at the hospital as of late and especially since Sakura was admitted. He thought he was just visiting because they were friends and she was carrying his child... But now that Karin was telling him this info on him, he wasn't too sure of Sasuke's intentions. Even though Karin would be one of his first friends and someone he knew was loyal to himself, he needed to keep Sakura and Sasuke's private life out of it. "I'm sure his intentions are his own. Perhaps it would be best to sign the papers." She gave him a nasty look but he continued on. "If you refuse your relationship wont change for the better, that I can guarantee you. Sasuke will go on and do his own thing without you in mind, while you waste away wanting things to go back to the way they were. You would be better on just signing those papers and moving on."

She rubbed her hands on her face roughly with a groan. Perhaps he was right.

...

When she returned back to 'Sasuke's house' she found those papers again looking her dead in the eyes. "Stupid..." She muttered, pacing up to the kitchen island and swiping them off the counter, reading the stupid letters it contained. At the bottom of the page were three lines and only one of which was intended for her. The first name signed was Sasuke's, then in the middle was Naruto's signature, then the blank line that stared at her.

The minute she would put a pen to this paper she was retain her old surname and would once again be a single. The bond she and Sasuke shared not only from being married but being former allies would most likely diminish upon that signature, which only left one thing. She had no clue what was going to happen to this baby.

She left the kitchen and found a spare bedroom as far away from their old master suite and curled up in the bed with those damned papers laying on the side table. Wasn't it taught in old and noble clans to marry once and marry for love, for it's frowned upon to retake wives? That would be if Sasuke would remarry, he'd have to if he wanted a large family since Sakura was only providing him with one child! She puckered her lips angrily. Her reputation would be tarnished! She'd be forced to become a concubine! No man ever wants someone else's leftovers!

Especially leftovers that have a child from a leftover marriage. Though, she wasn't sure what was going to happen about that baby anymore. She did legally sign for it, so they can't just, take it from her. Right? It's her just as much as Sasuke's, even though he was biologically related to the thing and paid Sakura the full amount through his money;however, the real question was if she actually wanted this kid. Children needed a of attention, she admitted, but she desperately needed an outlet for all of her attention and energy to go to. They cost a lot - a lot out of nothing she had which would be problematic. An Uchiha child would be a lot of energy to keep in check. She imagined that kid running around setting things on fire and she just wasn't sure if she could handle that or not. This kid would be the last thing she has of Sasuke's, though, and that was the thing she was hanging onto the most. If she just ditched that baby and left it with him he wouldn't care and be officially done with her - whereas if she had shared custody she'd _always_ have a bond with him, something that kept them together which sounded pleasant.

She let out a long sigh. These were going to be long, dreadful months to come.

...

"Oh shit." Even after a month of throwing her finally signed divorce papers in Naruto's face, Karin still hadn't fully unpacked. It turned out her friend from the old Land of Whirlpools, Mai, was asked to sub in for a fallen comrade in Konoha for about three months, leaving Karin enough time to sort things through with her life here. "Oh shit." She mumbled again, digging furiously through her suitcase. "I can't find my contacts...!" She panicked and rushed over to the bathroom in hopes to find her little case for her contacts but found her attempts fruitless, even among the many products both women had she could see it wasn't there.

"What's wrong?" Mai had called out from the kitchen as she was hurriedly trying to eat noodles from an instant pack she just pulled from the microwave.

"I think I forgot my contacts at _his_ house!" Sasuke was like a forbidden name in this apartment Mai had rented.

"It took you a month to realize that?"

Karin scoffed. "I didn't need them until now! Look at my glasses!" She walked into the kitchen with both of her palms opened up, revealing the crushed pair of red glasses she was known for. "I can barely friggan' see!"

"Then how do you know they're not on the counter or stuck somewhere in your suitcase?"

"Ugh, shut up. Because I don't ever remember unpacking them or packing them for that matter. I need them now and they take too long to get prepared and shipped!"

Mai shrugged and continued scarfing down her food. "Well go back and get em'? I've got to go, my little genin team is waiting for me." She grabbed her bag and waved before rushing out of the door.

Going back to Sasuke's was the LAST thing she wanted to do on her 'road to recovery' but she needed those glasses for her everyday routine so she just had to get them back. She pulled off her pajamas, stuffed her arms and legs into the holes in her clothes, pulled on her sandals, and stormed out of the door in a rush of blindness.

She rushed through the streets, accidentally bumping into people more than she wished but she said her apologies and continued trekking on, squinting when she saw the tall walls that separated the Uchiha district from the rest of the town. On said walls she could see the emblem, proudly displaying itself to passerby's. She remembered when she _used_ to be an Uchiha by marriage. She stormed through the empty streets that she used dwell around until she caught the view of the house she lived in for three years and anger boiled in her stomach.

She didn't care if he was home or not, so she just threw open the front door. It was completely empty, devoid of any signs of life. She puckered out her lips with a scoff. "Of course he'd move out!" She trudged through the hallways, into their old bedroom, and whirled around to get into their old en suite. "Here we go... Now where are you.." Her almost blind eyes darted around the bathroom until she spied the medicine cabinet where Sasuke would usually try and stuff her things when the sink counter got too filled up.

Almost sadly, she twisted the tiny little silver knob and opened up the mirrored door to the inside of the cabinet and found a few things in there. She found her little plastic case that held her contacts, so she went for that first and found immediate relief when she carefully placed them on her eyeballs. The rest she had no care for, so she closed the cabinet and left the house.

She thought her day would be uninterrupted until she ran into two people she could care less for.

She was so close to the exit of the Uchiha district when she saw them. Sakura Haruno and her _ex_-husband Sasuke Uchiha. Normally she wouldn't care if she saw them together because she was carrying his child but she saw them holding hands, her with a light smile and him with a smirk on his face. Karin knew once Sakura's eyes met her own that she was done for. She let go of Sasuke's hand and immediately stiffened at the sight of her, while Sasuke took a step in between them with that stupid threatening look on his face.

She couldn't help but grimace when she felt like the ruler at the moment. She was the one who made the 'mighty' Sakura Haruno tremble at the very sight of her no matter the circumstances and frankly, at the moment Karin could care less. "I can't believe this." _That stupid whore_! She took a step away from them in pure disgust. _Stupid fucking whore! _"I should have known something was up... But you can believe I'm not giving up my rights on that baby."

She just wanted to laugh in that whore's face when she could see the visible draining of the blood from her face after she uttered those words. It was like a puzzle she just completed and felt like she should have seen all of the pointers when they happened. It was so obvious. _If she think she can keep that baby from me she's dumber than people lead on_. Before she would have sucker punched that bitch, Karin shoved passed them in a rush with clenched fists and rounded the corner into the bustling streets.

In a flash she was back at Mai's apartment and through the door practically fuming. "The nerve of that woman...!"

"What?"

Startled, Karin snapped her neck to the side to see Mai and her temporary genin team all looking at her curiously. "What the hell are you guys doing here?"

"Well I was given a scroll the other day to teach them, I just have to find it." Mai stated as she opened up the drawer to the desk in the living room. "See? Here it is!"

"Can you get them out of here for a second?"

"Yeah. You three, wait outside the door for five minutes!" All three small genin nodded furiously and trailed out of the house to wait outside the door like they were instructed. "Why are you so angry?"

"Because **_he_** is shacking up with the stupid whore that's carrying the baby!" She fumed angrily as she began to pace around the small area of the apartment. "I should have freakin' known she was after him! She's had a huge crush on him since they were little! UGH!"

"What?! That's nuts!"

"I know! I bet she planned this whole thing out just to steal him away from me! Evil wench!"

"Ok ok, calm down, you're not even together anymore."

"But I KNOW it was happening while we were still married! Oooohhhhh I just wanna..!" She punched her fist into the palm of her opposite hand and snarled. "What a homewrecker! A sleazy whore! God knows where she's been! I swear, if I see her stupid face and her stupid pink hair!"

"What're you gonna do? You gonna kill her?" Mai raised an eyebrow and pat the angry red-head on the shoulder. "Karin don't worry your pretty little head off about her, I'm sure you'll get your revenge one day."

A little glimmer of hope sparkled in Karin's crimson eyes. "Yeah Mai, you're right."

* * *

_There we have it, a Karin POV for the first time in a long ass time. Sorry to any readers who aren't of... Age(?) for the vulgar language but I did have a warning on the top of every single chapter, and it's rated T. So don't flame please. Also this may or may not be the last Karin POV chapter because I don't find her all too interesting to write about. TELL ME FLUFF YOU WANT? I'M RUNNING OUT OF THINGS!? _

_Thanks for the reviews AGAIN! I love waking up to them and reading them it gives me the warm fuzzies! Xxx Miss May I xxX, I absolutely LOVE Regina Spektor! It' funny because my friend just recently introduced me to her and that was the first song she showed me! Again, big thanks to xXRosexScorpiusXx for the loooong review, this one made me laugh this morning! Eheh. :) And of course, still thank you to everyone else that reviewed! They don't go unnoticed and unread, I take everything you say into consideration and it's nice to have people take the time to review your stuff! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	35. Chapter 35

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 35-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Sasuke stared at Sakura in the den of their home curiously, as she stared down lovingly at a stuffed animal. "What are you doing with that?" He stepped into the den and crossed his arms, only realizing she had a bag at her feet with another one barely poking out.

"Oh hey, I just came back from my parents home..." She stood up and showed him the little infant sized bunny rabbit. "I remember the other day you seemed quite nervous about when the baby came. So I'm going to have to show you the basics. I didn't have anything sized like a baby with legs, so this will have to do."

He regretted walking into this room when he did - and he didn't like the fact that she could read him the way she did so easily.

"Come on." She took his hand in hers, picked up the bag in her other hand, and dragged him upstairs to the nursery. She plucked the second stuffed animal out of her bag and set the two on the changing table and looked back at him with a devious little smile. "I doubt you've ever changed a diaper."

She had him there. He'd considered himself lucky that he managed to avoid having to change a diaper ever in his life. He was privileged, but he needed to learn or else that baby would be severely unhygienic. "You're right." Though he was glad these diapers were not dirty. He watched as she carefully knelt down and pulled two pristine clean diapers from inside the changing table's cabinet and set a stuffed animal in front of him with a diaper beside it.

"Let me see you try and work a diaper." She smiled oh so innocently but he contemplated if what she was doing was to really prep him or just to watch him and laugh, but he wouldn't argue, he did need to learn.

"Hn." How hard could it be, right? He took a step loser to the table and picked up the pink rabbit in his large hand, giving it a one over before and held the white diaper in his opposite hand. He set the rabbit back down and unfolded the diaper before his very eyes. He sat down the rabbit's bottom into the diaper and made sure its little legs were slipped into the leg holes before messily trying to get the sticky tab closed to complete the diaper. He was unsure of what he did, but then again you never know. "There." He didn't like that look of amusement that flashed in her eyes.

"Well.. No." She laughed heartily as she carefully undid what he tried to do and returned back to her stuffed animal. "The tabs have to slid underneath this tab here.." She pointed to the little slit where the diapers tab would slid in, the part which he missed. "You also had it on backwards. Okay look, this somewhat smaller part is the front of the diaper since the front of a baby is not as large as the back. Changing a baby's diaper isn't just sliding it off and putting a fresh one on, though. There are many other parts. So say this diaper on my stuffie is dirty. Take a clean one and and place it underneath the baby, but only the back half like this. Unfasten these tabs and pull the front half down... If the baby's a boy then it's a suggestion to cover his penis with a cloth because more than likely he'll end up peeing on you at some point."

Sasuke looked and felt disgusted! "Why?" If the baby_ just_ had a diaper on, why pee on somebody?!

"I believe it's just a reaction from the difference in temperature from wearing a diaper then the cool air. I can bet when you were a baby you did the same thing." She laughed when he shook his head. "So, if the baby went number two, then use the front half of the diaper to wipe the bulk of it off of their bottom. Fold the diaper in half so the clean half is up, you have to gently lift the baby up by their ankles like this. Then you clean the baby's front with either a damp cloth or wipe and if it's a girl you have to wipe from the front to the back to keep infections away. So now if the baby went number two, then you have to take another cloth and repeat the process on their bum, but make sure you get in their thigh creases as well. Now you can let them air dry or pat them dry with a clean cloth then I suggest you apply rash cream to avoid nasty diaper rashes. Then you can just put the new one on! Oh! And also, when the baby is still a newborn you shouldn't cover their umbilical cord stump until it's dried and fallen off. These diapers don't have the notches cut out so you'll have to fold the tops over so it wont cover it."

He blinked for a second. Sakura really was amazingly smart and he had full trust that she would be a fantastic mother. Even though great mothering did not only consist of knowing what to do and having the skill to do it, but the drive and the love that backs it up - which he knew she had.

"Oh, and I can't stress enough, _do not leave the baby alone on the changing table_!" She refolded the clean diapers with a sigh. "You wouldn't believe how many mothers and fathers rush into the emergency because they turned their backs on their babies and they just.. Rolled off the table. Oh! And you can't really touch the baby's head when its first born, the skull bones haven't yet fused together... And and-"

"I know _some_ things, Sakura, and those are all things I know about." Mainly because she's told him this many times before, but to save her sanity, he'd leave that out.

She groaned like she was in pain but had a guilty look on her face. "I know, but so many things can go wrong-" In a split second he put his hands in her cheeks and squished her mouth closed, watching her brows furrowed angrily.

"Calm down." He told her sternly, squishing her cheeks around to prevent her from trying to argue. "It will be fine." She let out a defeated sigh and gave him a slight nod with just the slightest curl of her lips as he pulled his hands away.

Gently, she took his hands in her own. "You're right. Things will be fine."

...

In the middle of the night an alarm shattered his poor eardrums and set the house into motion. Sasuke sat up stark straight with a cold sweat lining his neck as he looked around the room and found Sakura smiling with her eyes closed. "What's that noise?" He asked her as he began to realize the noise was not in their bedroom, but close by. "Sakura."

"Pretend it's the cry of a baby in the middle of the night, Sasuke. Go to the nursery and and wait about ten minutes." He scoffed at her words.

"Why is it only me and not you?"

"I worked excruciating hours and wacky shifts at the hospital, I'm used to having a messed up sleeping schedule."

He groaned to himself and threw the covers off his body, placing his feet on the ground and slowly standing up. He already didn't like this. He was used to sometimes not ever getting sleep during missions and being awoken by attackers but he could already tell the shrill cry of a baby would play with his temper. He padded out of the room and stood in the nursery, where Sakura had an alarm set up and waiting for him to press the button. He did so and stood in there with his arms crossed over his chest, looking out of the window lazily until he deemed worthy and turned and left back to the bed.

Only for an hour and forty-five minutes later to be awoken again. He let out an angry puff of air and snapped his head to the side on his pillow, catching the sneaky little grimace that woman had. He scowled and dramatically pushed the blankets off of his body and promptly left the room, leaving her in a fit of giggles. He thought surely this would be the last time as he pressed the button on the alarm and waited only five minutes before angrily diving back into his bed and falling back asleep.

With only two hours added onto his few hours accumulated sleep, Sasuke was awoken yet again. "Sakura!" He stared at her with blazing eyes, the alarms screeching louder than before with a different tune. "Are you serious?"

"Sasuke babies don't work on your schedule, they wake up all through the night. You're either going to have to rock them back to sleep, change them, or feed them."

His face twisted sourly. "I'm not going to be the one that gets up _every_ time, _I_ can't feed the baby, that's your job."

"Well I mean if I'm not available. You make a bottle for the baby, done."

He pursed his lips together and breathed through his nose. His eyes ached from having to be awake at this hour so he darted out of the bed as quick as he could and fiercely grabbed the alarm. He flipped it over, opened up the hatch, and pulled the two little batteries from their resting place. There was no way he was waking up again. He stood there, tapping his toes against the hardwood until he had enough and sliding back into his bed.

...

The next day, tired and slightly irritable, Sakura returned back to their home with a grin on her face. He didn't trust her anymore with that sneaky looking grin, so he raised an eyebrow at her. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Because, Sasuke..." She began, setting her messenger bag down and carefully pulled a tiny little doll from the bag, weary of her large in-the-way belly. "There are specific ways to hold a baby, and if you do it wrong, you could seriously harm the baby!" She giddily took a seat beside him on the couch and showed him the newborn sized animatronic baby. "I stole it from the hospital. You're going to have to take care of this baby for a few hours and it will send the results to my computer so I can see them.."

He drew in a long breath of air. Taking care of a stupid robot baby was the last thing he ever wanted to do in his life. "I don't need to take care of it."

"Yes you do." She flipped the child over so it showed the plastic panel on its back which she flipped open to reveal a black switch. "I'm warning you, it records everything you do, right and wrong. Treat it like a real baby. Don't leave anything I've taught you out." She flipped the switch on and carefully gave Sasuke the tiny little baby.

"I don't want this thing."

"It's not a thing, it's your little baby that you're going to take care of!" She laughed as she jumped up to avoid Sasuke putting the baby back in her lap.

Sasuke stared down at the _thing_ on his lap. This wasn't a baby he was at all interested in taking care of. It had no relationship to him. It wasn't his actual child so why would he put his time into helping the thing? Sakura was already gone when it had the _nerve to cry_. He guessed Sakura would be pretty angry with him if he didn't take this seriously so he stood up carefully with the baby in his hands, unsure of what to do for a moment. _Sakura told me babies had to have their head supported. _He looked down to see the poor things little head bending down at an awkward angle while its cries still echoed through the room. He held it in the crook of his arm with its head supported and mentally patted himself on the back. That was one thing he could do right.

Now he wasn't sure what it was it wanted. He looked down at the couch where Sakura previously was and saw the fake little plastic bottle that went with the baby, so he retook his seat and snatched the bottle and carefully stuck the plastic nipple in its mouth, hoping it would aid its cries.

It didn't, it continued to cry. He puckered his lips out and looked to the archway of the living room hoping Sakura was there but she wasn't and he felt truly alone. He didn't realize how new he was to this. He sat there for a moment more with a blank mind until he remembered maybe it needed a diaper change. Beside the plastic bottle was a fabric diaper specifically made for the baby, so he again stood up carefully, took the diaper, and paced upstairs to the nursery.

He put the thing on the changing table and pulled its diaper off and shimmied the new one up its legs, as he did not have the energy to go through with all of the details.

"Sasuke!"

He snapped his neck to the side as he saw her enter the room. "What?"

"Hey! You can't look away from the baby! What did I tell you!?" She cried dramatically as she quickly walked through the room.

His brows furrowed. "It's not going to roll off."

"It's not an it." Sakura sighed and undid the diaper to reveal it's gender. "This is your little baby girl, treat it at such."

"It's a robot, Sakura, it's not my baby."

In the midst of their argument, they never realized the baby had stopped crying.

"Aw, see Sasuke?! It's fine! Keep going!"

She left him again with this thing he refused to think of as his daughter.

He turned back around to face it and snarled. Carefully, ever so carefully, he lifted the tiny baby off the changing table and laid it down in the crib he had set up for his _own_ offspring. "You're lucky." He told it snidely and left the room.

About twenty minutes later the robots voice rang through the manse, sending shivers down his spine. He hated the thing. He stomped upstairs even though he and Sakura were in the middle of dinner, leaving her in a fit of giggles while his temper was being poked at. "Are you hungry now?" He questioned it as he pulled it out of the crib with a slight scowl.

Sasuke went back into the living room, took a seat, and stuck the plastic nipple in its mouth and smirked when it stopped its crying. When he was done, he set the bottle down on the couch and laid it down with it. There was nothing else to do with it now, right?

Apparently not because when he returned to the dining area he was yelled at for not bringing the baby with him. So he was stuck sitting at the table with one arm holding the baby carefully while he ate, all the while his anger boiling.

When the night time rolled around, he was thankful that this baby wanted to sleep. So after he set it down in the crib, he crawled into bed with a sigh.

He didn't know the little shit would cry at the middle of the night every half an hour.

...

The next morning Sakura left for the hospital and returned back with a report of how he did with the fake baby he thanked the Gods was out of his house.

She sat beside him on the couch, holding the piece of paper close to her eyes, squinting as she read. She looked between the paper and his awaiting eyes before finally speaking up. "Sasuke!" She gasped with a large grin. He expected he failed at this point. There was no way he'd create a bond with that robot. "You only messed up twice! You missed burping the baby after you fed it and wiping it when you changed it!"

He smirked. "You look surprised. Do you have no faith in me?"

"N-no! It's just, I thought you hated the thing!"

"I did."

"Augh!" She grimaced and buried her face in her hands. "I can't believe you."

* * *

_The parenting tips from Sakura to Sasuke!  
Also, I do have a sequel which would include fluffy tidbits with baby + more? Even more babies? Once I'm finished with this story I'll have the story and its first chapter created, but I just wanted to know if that you interest you guys. I know there's a lot of fanfics out there that are basically based off the same thing, "oh they have kids this is their lives" but idk, I'd feel weird if I ended where I would without showing the rest of their lives. Especially since I'm not going to keep writing in this story with the baby for too long after its first little while. I also think it SHOULD be serperated into a different story because some people may not like this story but would appreciate the one I have planned for after. Where are your guys' heads at?_

_Thanks for the supporting reviews! I LOVE them! Not to mention those many followers and favorite-ers! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	36. Chapter 36

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 36-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

Early in the day Sakura played a very mean joke on Sasuke that he did not find very funny.

She was in the kitchen finding something to snack on and Sasuke had just returned from a very long mission, tired as can be, was sorting through his bag looking for something. She was sifting through what was in the fridge when the brilliant idea hit her: to play a prank on the man! She closed the fridge and spun around, tapping her index finger on her lips. "I can't be pregnant and not play this prank...!" She told herself even though her conscience told her it would be pretty mean, but she wanted some attention from him after he was gone for a while.

So she clutched her stomach dramatically and howled in pain, grinning on the inside, and clutching the kitchen island with her other hand. "S-Sasuke!" She cried out, her voice laced with agony and a tinge of drama but she knew he'd never notice over the agony. She could hear those footsteps make their way closer and closer to her and finally he was in view, his face contorted into panic.

"What's wrong?!" He asked hurriedly, stalling as he stared at her composure - holding her large nine month pregnant belly whilst holding onto the island with all of her might - he didn't know what to do! His face was blanched and she found it rather hard to keep the giggles down.

"I think it's the baby...!" Her eyes widened in fake horror and let out a small groan, looking to him for help. He looked so lost and dazed and confused and felt immediately bad but he rushed to her side nonetheless. She pursed her lips as a grin burst out and straightened her back, laughing her into her hand.

His eyebrow twitched and she laughed even harder. "What are you laughing about..?"

"Oh God, I'm sorry Sasuke! It was a joke! But your face was priiiceless!" She continued to laugh right in front of him, even laughing hard enough to bend forward. She felt so bad - but it felt so right!

Sasuke didn't find it as funny as she did, unfortunately. He merely stood up and promptly left the room, leaving her to laugh all on her own. She casually wiped a tear away from the corner of her eye with an undying grin. She knew he'd have to get over it sooner rather than later.

The entirety of the day consisted of Sakura trying to get his attention but he would not give her the time of day. She'd curl up on his lap whilst he was sitting on the couch starting up his report on his mission, but he wouldn't even glance down at her as he did so. She supposed he grew tired of sitting in the hot living room and sat on the porch that was protected by the overhang of the roof and she followed suit. She sat right beside him and stared at him sweetly but he continued just to scrawl down what he needed to say, again without even glancing at her or responding to her advances.

When the night time came around, she followed him all the way up to their bedroom and got changed into her pjs at the same time as him and dove into the bed carefully alongside him. She cuddled right up to his side and wrapped her arm around his torso while she rested her cheek on his chest, letting out a content sigh. She craned her neck upwards to look at him. "Looove yoou!"

She watched as he closed his eyes and his brows slightly twitched angrily like they did before. He didn't say anything but he still laid his arm around her shoulders like every night. She reached up and gently poked him in the cheek. "I'm sorry Sasuke, it's like a pregnant woman's initiation! I could have played it on anyone but you were the first one I saw when I got the idea."

"Well it was a stupid idea."

"I had to do it, you don't understand." She laughed and snuggled her cheek back onto his chest."I bet the baby laughed with me."

"Doubt it."

She lightly chuckled and could feel the weight of her eyelids become more apparent as sleep wanted to take its grip on her. She let out another content sigh and shimmied her body to a comfortable position with her large belly. It felt like a lead blanket was being carefully placed on her body until an ache rocked her body. Her eyes immediately widened and the lead blanket faded away. Soon enough another ache throbbed through her abdomen and through her limbs, causing her to choke up in disbelief. She sucked in a breath of air and tried to work out the aches in her head - they were obviously contractions. Contractions of labor. _Labor._

She quickly sat up, blinking rapidly as she rubbed her belly cautiously. They were indeed the dreaded contractions. She looked over her shoulder and into the slight darkness of their bedroom where she could see Sasuke had cracked an eye open to glance at what she was doing, the tiniest hint of a scowl on his lips. She slowly licked her lips and looked back down to her enlarged abdomen that was dully throbbing from the contraction it had just endured. She began to carefully time the seconds and minutes that passed between the first and the second contraction and applied it to her prior knowledge. To make sure they weren't fake contractions, she slowly laid back down in the bed and tried to change positions but it did not ail the ache that remained after her first contraction, so she bit her lip. She then noted how the pain was in her lower back, where most real labor contractions started, and cursed to herself.

Her due date wasn't for about another week and a half - so she didn't get anything ready for the baby! No hospital bag, no baby bag, no nothing! She told herself she wouldn't be nervous for this moment but now her medical knowledge was draining from her head. Should she stay at home for a little while longer or does she go straight for the hospital?!

"Hey S-Sasuke?" She glanced back over her shoulder to look at the father of this baby and watched as he irritably cracked open a single eye at her with a raised brow.

"What?" He questioned with a half annoyed tone. He didn't like to be bothered while he slept, especially since she already had him in a bad mood.

"Well, I just got my first contraction." Even though she sounded confident and sure when she said it, she could see the anger and denial in his face as he scoffed at her words.

"That's not going to work on me twice." He stated simply with a snarl and pulled the blankets closer, for when she was moving around they had been tugged off his side. Sakura huffed and gripped the blankets in her hands and yanked them right off his body, earning a very pissed off Sasuke.

"I'm serious!" She whined and carefully placed her feet on the cool hardwood, feeling nice cooling shivers course through her body. "My first contraction ended a few minutes ago, I'm counting as we speak!"

She whirled back around in time to see him roll his eyes at her and tug the blanket back from her side of the bed. "I'm serious as well, Sakura, I'm tired from my mission, I don't want to play your games anymore."

"The baby is awake and moving around right now! I'm serious! This baby is ready to come out, and the due date is in a week and a half. Not much more I can say other than get the hell out of that bed and get a hospital bag ready for the baby." The other eye Sasuke kept closed opened and he stared at her cautiously, not knowing if he should believe her or not. "If you don't believe me come feel for yourself, and make it snappy, I want to hurry to the hospital. You don't have to take me though, this baby wont be born for a little while and I know you're tired."

He got up form the bed cautiously and paced over to her side, carefully placing his hands on her large belly to feel his little baby move around. "I'm not going to just let you go to the hospital by yourself."

"We'll be there for a while, Sasuke, you wont see the baby for possibly a whole day! Wouldn't you want your sleep before seeing your little baby?"

"No." He crossed his arms over his chest. "What do I need to pack?"

She sighed in defeat and thought for a moment. "Lots of blankets to swaddle the baby in, a few diapers, an outfit for the baby, a little cap, booties... That's about it I believe." He gave her a half nod before he left out of their room and into their baby's nursery. She stretched and made way for her dresser where she began to sort through what she wanted to wear. It had to be comfortable, yet something that was easy to get in and out of. She decided on a yellow sun dress and began to pack her own hospital bag which consisted of her white fluffy slippers and her fuzzy pink house robe.

When Sasuke returned she smiled because she could see the slight fright he allowed himself to show. It went well the the cute little patterned baby bag he held in his right hand. "Are you fit to walk?" He casually took her own hospital bag from her hands and gave her a serious look.

"Both of my legs are functioning, so yes, I'm fit to walk. Also, you may want to change out of your nightwear." She laughed when he looked somewhat embarrassed that that had totally slipped his mind. He set the bags down onto their bed and changed out of his pjs. "So are we ready?" He gave her a nod and she slowly made her way over to his side and wrapped her arms around his much larger arm.

When they arrived at the hospital Haru was just signing out and when she saw her dearest friend her blue eyes widened with shock. "Sakura!" She screeched loudly, her voice echoing through the entree way of the hospital. It turned heads of the doctors, nurses, and patients alike. There was a strict code to how loud your voice could be at a certain time and this wasn't the time for being loud. Haru never cared much for the rules. She threw her pen to the desk and dashed over to her side, her cautious hands hovering over the large pregnant belly. "Is it time?!"

Sakura gave her a slight nod. "Yep, I got my first contraction about ten minutes ago and I can feel the beginning of one now. I'm only here early to take some extra steps to ensure the birth will go accordingly."

"Oooohhh!" The woman squealed, and got down on her knees, looking right at the large bump in pure amazement. With a nod of permission, Haru placed her hands on it and gasped rather loudly when the tiny one moved underneath her hands. "Aw, aw, aw! It's moving so much! It wants to meet you, Sakura!"

Sakura didn't quite like it when people referred to the baby as an 'it', it just made her want to reveal the gender more and more. "So, Haru, Ino told me you two were taking bets on what the gender would be but she didn't tell me which you two picked."

"Yeah, hehe, I bet on a girl. Ino bet on a boy, Naruto bet on a girl with pink hair. Tsunade bet on a girl-"

"When were you talking to Tsunade about this?"

"She came in for a patient about two weeks ago that needed her assistance, Ino was here visiting me on my break, and she just walked up to us and asked us what we thought it would be..."

"And I'm guessing whoever guesses right gets a share of the pooled money?" Knowing Tsunade she loved her gambling. Haru nodded and Sakura sighed with a slight chuckle. "Well Haru, I really need to get to a hospital room, my back is killing me. Can you quickly call the obstetrician? The one that I like."

"Yeah of course! I'll do that right now, I guess you can just head over to the delivery wing." Haru rushed back over to her large desk and picked up the phone with a gleeful smile. As Sasuke and Sakura paced down the hallway Haru got the obstetrician on the phone.

Said obstetrician found the couple in the hallway and ushered them into a calm white delivery room with a nice view of the city and some flowers in a clear vase. "You can get comfortable, Sakura, I'll be back in a few minutes to check your dilation." The male doctor stated before promptly leaving the room.

Sasuke didn't care if it was a male doctor until he asked this question. "How does he check your dilation?"

Sakura's face flushed a deep red when maybe she should have asked for the crappier female obstetrician to save her the problems that would arise with Sasuke and a male doctor. "Well, they have to basically, ahem... Stick their gloved fingers inside so they can.. Feel around and check."

Sasuke looked absolutely startled and horrified! He was normally a very pale man but she could see the blood leave his face again yet his brows instantly furrowed and his eyes looked full of burning hate. "What?!" He burst out, clenching his fists, looking all embarrassed. "And you _chose_ him?"

"B-because the other obstetrician isn't as experienced as him, Sasuke, it's not like that. You want your baby to be delivered safely, right? By someone who has delivered many babies before, right? That would be him!" Sasuke stayed silent, brooding in his little hospital chair, his nasty glare directed at the door where that damned doctor would be walking in. "If you do anything, I swear!"

When Sakura reminded herself to calm down and after forcing the Uchiha to promise not to pull anything, the doctor strode in. "We've missed you here at the hospital, Sakura." He said calmly as he pulled a light blue latex glove on his fingers, seemingly unaware of Sasuke's horrid stare. "We had a patient in that needed even Lady Tsunade's help!"

Sakura readied herself on the bed and a light laugh. "Really? What did he manage to do?" She didn't pay any mind to Sasuke, as his body went frigid in his hospital chair and his heated glare switched between them. She gripped the guardrail on the hospital bed tightly as the obstetrician began to do his job.

"Impaled by a tree branch doing Gods know what, right through the chest, narrowly missing his heart and the subclavian vein. It was quite a messy procedure... Hmm, well I'd say you're about five centimeters dilated. Minimum five hours until you reach the last stage of labor." He pulled his hand away from Sakura and carefully pulled the gloves off his hands and tossed them into the small trashcan near the entrance to the room. "I'm going to have a nurse come by and hook you up to the fetal monitor as soon as one is available. We've got a woman from Ame that traveled here a few months back just to have our doctors deliver her sextuplets."

Sakura snorted with amazement. "Oh wow, that's amazing!" The obstetrician nodded and said his goodbye's and Sakura glanced over at Sasuke. "See, it could be as bad as sextuplets." He merely stared at her, his face unchanging. "You're mad at me... For what now?" He still just sat there with his arms crossed. "...Did you think I enjoyed that, Sasuke?"

"Well-"

"It hurt like hell." He glanced down at her hand that left a few dents in the railing from her clenching it so tightly. "Exactly! It hurts a lot! That didn't come from enjoyment. It's not like when you do-"

"Sakura!" A nurse burst through the door with a large grin decorating her lips, her scrubs a flashy red. "I couldn't wait to get out of that surgery room when doctor Oshiro asked for a nurse. That woman is nuts. She insisted to be awake for the C-Section so she could make sure they all lived. It's a nice gesture and everything, but far too bloody for sensitive eyes."

"Oh Kame, you always cheer me up." Sakura sat up in her bed as Kame set some folded linens on her lap.

"I know." She laughed and began pushing buttons on a machine near the bed. "Those are some regulated robes, you don't have to wear them but the outer robe is the heated one that is demanded by every patient, and since these beds aren't the heated ones I thought you'd wear it."

Sakura snickered as she unfolded the clothing. "Of course I'm going to wear it. Anytime I can be pampered with heated clothing then I'm all for it." She stood up carefully and took the bag from Sasuke's feet, digging through it until she found the spare dress she stuffed in there. She drew the half-closed blinds shut and pulled her yellow dress off her body and pulled her loose white one on, then pulled the robe over her shoulders with a sigh. She sat back on the bed just in time, Kame holding up the little elastic belts to strap them onto her pregnant belly.

After that was done and Kame left the room, Sakura moved over in the bed and patted beside her, wanting Sasuke by her side. He shook his head. "I'll fall asleep if I lie down."

"It's not in anyone's best interest to deny a pregnant woman of what she wants." She smiled sweetly and that alone coerced him to get into the hospital bed with her. "I want to be close to you right now."

Once he finished getting into the large bed, she cuddled up to his side like she always did every night. "Your heartbeat is abnormal. Why?" She peered up at him with big curious eyes, and since Kame turned the lights off for them, she could only see the moonlight bouncing off his eyes.

It was a great accomplishment to get an answer out of him. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case for now. "Nothing."

"Are you nervous? Is that it?" She didn't get a 'no' so she assumed she was right like she always was. "I'm not even that nervous, Sasuke, and I'm the one pushing out a baby in the near future. If I'm not nervous about it then there's nothing for you to worry about."

"I'm not just about the delivery because I know you can do it."

"Then what is it?"

"It's nothing."

"If you tell me what you're nervous about, I'll tell you what I'm nervous about."

"You're nervous about something?" She nodded.

"Many things are on my mind, many of which have nothing to do with the delivery."

He sighed. "I don't think I'm suited for this."

"For what?" She questioned, propping herself up on her elbow to get a better look at his face, shocked by this. "For being a father?" He nodded. "Sasuke! What the heck makes you think like that?"

His face twisted up slightly, as if he was mocking her question. "Everything. The Elders made mistakes many years ago at the trial."

She scoffed. "Like what, ban you from having children? Castrate you?"

"If not for Naruto's speech they would have had me executed. You know that. Somebody that would have been executed because of international crimes shouldn't be allowed to have children."

"Don't you dare think like that! If they thought that you weren't going to reproduce then they're all idiots! As far as your future fathering is concerned I'm not the least bit worried. Because of what happened back then isn't going to affect whatever happens now. You're not going to kill this baby, kidnap it, extort it, are you?" He shook his head. "Then there you go. And I know you're going to love this baby with all your heart, I know it. No parent can be perfect at parenting, so please don't worry about it."

He sighed and slightly nodded. "I don't think the baby will like me."

"Pssh, that's what I'm worried about, not you. This baby will adore you." She laughed and snuggled back to his chest. "Whenever you come back from a mission, or when you're within earshot the baby starts to move because they recognize you and your voice. You're the only one that's going to be able to teach them their jutsu's, and help them with their Sharingan. I wont be able to do any of that."

"You'll be the nice parent."

"Pff, you're nice when you absolutely have to be. Besides, there's always a 'nice parent' and a not so 'nice parent.' They can't have two and not the other, it doesn't work like that. My dad was always the nice parent, I guess he was my 'favorite' parent when I was smaller."

Sasuke smiled fondly when he thought of his parents. "My mother was the nice parent." He remembered how he'd always talk to his mother and once his father entered the room silence would fall upon them. Mikoto would always laugh when that happened.

A low, almost inaudible beeping filled the room and his onyx eyes darted from the ceiling until they fell upon the monitor, where the usual stagnant green line was beginning to show some activity. "What does that mean?"

"Ah, it's just showing another contraction coming on." Her voice sounded strained as she spoke, slowly arching her back into she found a more comfortable position. "They get worse every time they come around."

He wished he could take some of the discomfort she was currently feeling, but Sakura put on a tough face and bore through it silently, gripping onto his hand as she did so. She was so much stronger than he used to believe. When he could feel her grip on his hand become less and less powerful, he turned the lighting on the machine to the low setting so it didn't bounce off the walls of the room and keep her up. "I think you should get some rest Sakura."

"Yeah..." She whispered and re-attached herself to his lean side, finding her exact place where she rests her head and finally let her eyelids flutter shut. "I love you."

Normally he barely said those three words because he always thought they were over-used, and to say them if he really truly ever meant it. As he gently kissed the top of her head he realized he couldn't possibly love her more than he already did. "I love you too."

* * *

_omg. Finally Sakura's in labor! So the majority of the people think that this baby will be a girl, and a handful of people believe it will be a boy. Next chapter will be the big reveal! Sorry for any errors, it's hard for me to spot them when I'm reading my own writing. _

_THANKS SO MUCH for **alllllllll** of the reviewers, followers, and faves! Can we reach 300 reviews before the story ends? _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	37. Chapter 37

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 37-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

When Sakura awoke barely half an hour after she dozed off she awoke to the pain of the contractions. Sasuke knew this because when her eyes cracked open they immediately closed shut with a long sigh full of dread. He wished there was something he could do to alleviate the pain that rocked her entire body but alas, he had no knowledge of how things like that worked.

"Isn't there something they can give you?" He questioned once she sat up in the hospital bed and buried her face into her hands. She shook her head.

"Sometimes the medications can complicate things. I'd rather not risk it." She groaned and got out of the bed with one hand on the small of her back. She began to pace around the room to aid the discomfort. "Like taking an epidural can increase the risk of needing a vacuum delivery. It can also cause fetal distress and faulty milk delivery."

Well then, he supposed Sakura would just have to grit her teeth, as much as he didn't want her to, he understood why she thought this way. "Are you hungry?" She shook her head. "Are you thirsty?" She gave him a nod, still regulating her deep breathing.

"Yeah, I'm kind of thirsty, but I don't like the water they give us here.. The cafeteria has some good water in the vending machine." Once she finished he stood up from the bed and paced out of the room and once the light from the bright hallways hit his eyes he clenched them shut.

A few moments later when the blur escaped his vision, he walked down the hallway until he hit a directory. He scanned over the long lists of the different rooms until he saw the tiny little picture that had a fork and the words CAFETERIA written by its side. He lazily cracked his back and paced over to the stairwell and meandered the second floor until the scent of nasty food hit his nose. The hallway opened up into a large cafeteria place with bistro tables placed in the middle while small kiosks with different foods. There were different families dotting the open area, each with a different reason for being in this hospital. There was an elderly woman with a woman he presumed to be her daughter, both crying and wiping their eyes with their handkerchiefs. He trekked on as he spotted the pair of vending machines on the opposite side of him, hoping not to catch anything. He disliked hospitals. If any of these people were sick he could possibly bring it with him and into their delivery room and that was something he did not want. He quickly paced over to the vending machines and the only thing he could hear was a family sitting at a table near the machines, a man holding a teeny tiny little baby while the presumed wife sniffled.

He dug into his pocket to find his wallet and as he did so the young child piped up in their family. "Mama why did my baby sister have to die?" It seems that she had kept asking her parents that question because she didn't understand, but the father sighed in a frustrated manner.

"Because, Sweetie..." The mother started as she blew her nose into her tissue. "The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck and wouldn't let her breath.. But remember that your baby sister is with God now and she's watching over us."

A shiver ran down Sasuke's spine as she shoved his money into the machine until he popped out two water bottles and quickly got the hell out of there, a new fear festering in the pit of his stomach. He threw himself into their room, startling Sakura in the process. "Ah! You're back! I'm dying for some water right now."

He placed the water down on the metal table beside her and looked at her with a serious gaze. "Can the umbilical cord wrap around the baby's neck?"

She cocked her head at this sudden change of attitude but ever since she got pregnant he'd always been on his toes about this. "Yes it can. What brought this on?" She uncapped her water and chugged down a quarter of it.

"There was a family in the cafeteria that were expecting twins but one died because the cord choked her to death!"

"Aw, you're so cute Sasuke." She smile and twisted the cap tightly. "It can happen, yes. But it's something that can be helped if caught early. Plus, most families can catch a wrapped cord early in an ultrasound. We haven't seen that yet. I promise our baby will not be choked to death."

Sasuke let out a sigh. He felt somewhat better but he didn't quite like seeing a family that had lost a baby when he was currently expecting one. Sakura walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and looked him in the eyes. "I promised you in the beginning of this that I would deliver a healthy little baby for you and that's what I'm going to do, okay?"

Her smirked and gave her a nod.

She smiled and pecked him on the lips gently. "I love you."

...

"Ugh I haaate you." Sakura groaned as she arched her back in the bed and clenched her eyes again. Sasuke sat in the hospital chair, slightly scared of her wrath bit remained in the room anyways. Her contractions had gotten worse over the few hours that had passed and she was now in visible, audible pain and it scared the shit out of him. He just wanted to wrap her up in his arms but she insisted that he stay away from her or she'd choke him out. He didn't mind. After all he did try and kill her when they were younger.

The door to the barely lit delivery room opened to the obstetrician and a flame burned within him. He did _not_ like this man whatsoever and he didn't care if what he was doing was for medical reasons. In all honesty, he'd rather have the inexperienced younger obstetrician than having a man stick his fingers inside of Sakura.

"Alright Sakura, we're going to check your dilation again and see where you're at..." He began as he pulled on a latex glove as Sakura readied herself to be examined. Sasuke pressed his lips into a thin line as the doctor did what needed to be done, angrily at that, his eyes burning into the man. "Well, you've dilated about two centimeters more, so you're at about seven centimeters, only three more needed to delivery this baby! How are the contractions going? What's the timing between them?"

"Mmm, they're about six minutes apart right now, and getting worse. So it's a good sign. No spikes on the heart rate machine either." Sakura pulled her dress back down and snuggled back into the sheets, patting her forehead with the back of her hand. "So three centimeters left, three hours left." She groaned. "Three hours of labor."

He chuckled as he peeled the gloves off his hands and tossed them away. "There's always medications when you need them, Sakura." She nodded and he left the room.

"You need to loosen up, Sasuke." She spoke gently and tenderly as she turned her head on the pillow, reaching over to run her fingers through his hair. "Or your muscles will turn to rock."

"I can't." He told her seriously but without pulling away from her touch. Most of the night she wanted to remain in her own company in her own pain so when she wanted attention he'd give it to her. "I'm too worried."

"Our baby is too strong to let anything happen to them, don't you think? Stubborn as a mule, thanks to you. In all honesty I think they're gonna get a lot of your traits." Her smile lingered as she traced his jaw line with her finger.

"I hope not." He couldn't imagine raising a little shit like him. He'd end up ripping his hair out. "Unless you want a devil child, then you can raise it."

She laughed. "They _wont_ be a devil child. I know if they are you'll whip em' into shape, right? And if they don't listen to you, they'll have me to deal with or we'll send them to Naruto's house." He smirked at the thought of Naruto's house being the penalty for being a brat. It seemed about right. "After that experience I doubt they'll ever back talk us again, even if Karin chooses to keep her share of the custody and he'll be their uncle."

He shivered. He totally forgot all about that mess. "Even if it's his own child that house would still be a punishment."

With a giggle, she shook her head. "You're so mean." She cupped his cheek within her hand lovingly. "I hope our child will be as strong as you are."

His brows furrowed. "You're strong as well, Sakura."

"Not like you are. I hope they have your thick skin and wont listen to what others say to them. Most likely they wont, I can picture our child getting into a lot of fights, like you and Naruto would. With my strength and your unwillingness to back down I have a feeling they're gonna be in a lot of trouble."

He liked to imagine his children ending up with most of Sakura's traits. They'd be respectful toward others, appreciate what they have, know where they come from... The list could go on, he thought. And as long as they came out with black hair he'd be fine. Either way he'd know Sakura's temper would whip them into shape. He nodded at her words. He could definitely see their child being a tough little fighter if they took traits from both him and Sakura. "And once that idiot proposes to that girl-"

"-Hinata..."

"...her, our child will have someone to fight with." He smirked at the mere thought of their two offspring fighting like he and Naruto did. Both of their families would be at it for years to come.

"Yeah, that would be funny if that actually happened. He's got a lot on his plate right now, though, so I don't know if that will be happening anytime soon. Plus I don't think he's emotionally ready to have a child. Could you imagine? I'm not worried about Hinata... But he's a completely different story. I'd just wish that this baby had a classmate from the parents of someone in our year."

He shrugged. He didn't hate the people in his year but he definitely didn't love them. They were all mostly annoying and hated him so he could care less if his child would be within the same year as them. "They'd only slow our child down."

She rolled her eyes and he could see on the monitor a contraction approaching, so he kept quiet, knowing her bad side was approaching as well.

...

With two hours passing and Sakura's agony growing by the minute, the obstetrician entered the room, sliding gloves onto his nasty hands. He didn't think it was a good idea to bother Sakura in her mind state right now but she readied herself and he was without fear, unlike himself.

"Wow, hm." Minutes later the obstetrician completed his job and threw away the disposable gloves into the trash. "Well, it seems like the one hour is no longer needed. You're at about ten centimeters already! If you're ready, we can begin. The woman from Ame had finished, so we have nurses everywhere needing a job."

"Oh jeez, so soon." Sakura groaned and put her hand to her forehead, sucking in a deep breath. "Yeah, I guess we can.."

"Alright, I'll go grab a few nurses and we can get you prepared." He immediately left the office, leaving both Sakura and Sasuke in shock. He knew it was coming... But it was another feeling knowing that soon that baby could be outside of her belly, something to hold, something real. A sickening feeling was now bubbling in his stomach.

"Did you hear that? We're going to have the baby so soon..." She murmured as she sat up in the bed and exhaled deeply and chuckled. "I thought I'd have time to give myself a mental preparation...But a baby! A baby can be in our arms! It's so close!"

Talk about mental preparation he felt like he needed to give him one himself. It seemed like he was all bark and no bite. He thought it would be easy but he didn't particularly like taking care of people and didn't like carrying others weight in a mission - so how could he care for a tiny human being that depended on him knowing what to do? He knew Sakura knew what to do and she taught him but when it came down to it he had no real experience with taking care of somebody like she did. Just looking away for one second could result in the baby's death! He knew it. He was going to be a horrid parent.

While Sakura was mentally preparing herself, Sasuke sat in utter terror. He didn't want to admit it but he regretted ever wanting children because he'd end up screwing up their lives one way or another.

The obstetrician walked in with two nurses in tow, hauling in some equipment and machines they may need for the birth. The thing he didn't really like to look at was the metal stirrup to hold her legs open while she gave birth. They looked like they belonged in a mental ward. Even though he didn't like them, he never once heard Sakura object to the things, so he kept his trap shut.

They talked a lot of medical talk which he only understood some parts, gave her some things, made sure she had water on her side table, and then made sure they had everything they needed.

It was time.

He gulped thickly and glanced over to Sakura who seemed so calm compared to his own blanched face. She looked back over to him with a timid smile.

"You know they say that childbirth's the easiest part."

Dread filled his entire being and once she took his hand he knew he had to man up. If she could push a baby out of her then he could at least live to see this child. With that being said he also wondered if he'd survive her wrath through this. The doctor talked to her for a moment more before the words finally left his mouth.

"Ready when you are, Sakura. Push."

This was it! He looked over at Sakura as she nodded her head with teeth clenched. He could already feel his hand being squished in her hands. She licked her lips, got a tiny bit more comfortable in her bed, and began to push that child out of her.

Only ten minutes into her trying to force that baby out of her he could feel his hand tingling and loosing feeling but he would never complain.

Fifteen minutes later his hand went completely numb and slightly red, being crushed to death in her fist by her massive amount of strength. Even so, he couldn't imagine the pains she was toughing through. She had a straight face through everything, she looked so concentrated. Sometimes people would push the pain to another part of them to get it done and then eventually crash and he believed that's what she was doing.

Half an hour later the obstetrician announced he could see the head and he felt like passing out. Sakura still looked like a trooper, though, she still had that strong and concentrated look plastered on her face, breathing deeply and grumbling different things as she did that he could not understand but he supposed she didn't want an answer when she never complained.

A little while later the doctor announced loudly. "The baby's head is crowning!"

The nurse asked him if he'd like to see and he shook his head. He didn't think he'd be ready to see that just yet. He'd been warned not to look otherwise you'd never want to go back in that area for a while.

Shortly after that and his whole arm losing feeling, the doctor told them the head was out and about three seconds after that the cry of a baby entered the room, shocking him completely. _It was real_. That was an actual baby crying, not just a baby on the other glass in the nursery wing he saw, it was his actual baby crying. The noises around that baby's cry seemed to zone out. The sound of Sakura's cry of joy, the Doctor announcing she just needed a few more pushes to get the shoulders passed, the nurses blabbering on.. It faded away because to him at that exact moment were of no importance. For almost nine months he had been awaiting this moment, for years even, for his own flesh and blood to enter this world and it was actually _happening_.

Sakura gave one last strong push, he could tell because her knuckles turned a frosty white and she clenched her tear filled eyes shut and grit her teeth together. "Augh!" She cried out one last time as her head, almost in slow motion, laid back on the pillow, her forehead covered in a sheen coating of sweat, her cheeks flustered a deep red, her eyes glossy. As she panted and tried her best to regain her breath the Doctor pulled the child from her and the raspy wailing continued.

He was so thankful to hear that cry coming from his child and he knew it would be the only cry he'd be thankful for.

He looked to Sakura and her face was wet with joyful tears, sniffling and still trying to stop her heart from pounding against her chest. She turned her face just in time for Sasuke to gently pat her forehead dry and carefully move the strands of her bangs from her face. He could already see the pride written all over her face.

The doctors carefully brought the stark naked baby over to her side and placed it in her arms, the obstetrician also taking a step forward. "Congratulations to a little boy!" He cheered enthusiastically as he readied the umbilical cord. "The Father, of course, should cut the cord!"

Sakura told him cutting the cord was a symbolic thing for a father. It was almost like showing that the baby was no longer apart of the woman but now was theirs. Plus since the father did almost nothing with this pregnancy it was the only thing they _could_ do. A son. The doctor placed a silver pair of scissors and directed him to the clamped off part of the cord, indicating that's where it needed to be cut. So he did it. He quickly snipped it in half, half worried that it would somehow hurt his _son_ in anyway but he was sure these people knew what they were doing.

Still in minor shock, he retook his seat beside her bed, his eyes glued to the little thing flailing it's tiny chubby little arms about, almost smacking his mother in the face in the process. His _son _had healthy lungs, he could tell by that screeching voice that Sakura just seemed absolutely thrilled to hear. He had use of his limb. There was no cord wrapped around his neck. No visible deformities. He was born alive. Nothing had gone wrong!

He would have smiled but he was still frozen in shock and slight apprehension to even be in this situation.

It did warm his heart; however, to watch Sakura coddle him lovingly, looking like she'd never let him go. It was something special to witness, or at least he thought. Seeing a mother hold her newborn child for the very first time. Witnessing the fruit of her hard labor. That baby looked like he belonged in her arms and he didn't want them to part, ever.

Sakura requested they swaddle him in their blankets so as she hesitantly let them take her son away from them, she let her head sway to the side to glance at him, her face bursting with emotion. "Sasuke!" She cried through her tears, capturing his hand in her own and giving it a gentle squeeze. "A son!"

"Yeah.." He looked deep in those joy filled eyes and found solace. He gulped thickly. He wasn't sure of what to say next because he was just too flabbergasted to think of anything appropriate. "..You did a great job."

She smiled brightly with a sparkle in her eyes and the nurse was back at her side with a swaddled little boy, awaiting his mothers arms, his crying ceased. She immediately took him into her arms and gazed down upon him, studying every single detail, every single pore, every little strand of hair. "Sasuke..." She whispered gently and even though their son was awake, she still felt the need to whisper. "Look at him, our son.. Look at those chubby cheeks he has..."

They both glanced over to his barely open eyes that looked around even though he could barely see, obviously looking a little bit scared by this big and new world. His eyes were light colored, almost a sea foam green, unlike his mothers rich jade eyes. She did tell him that if their child inherited her eyes they'd most likely start off with a lighter color then eventually darken within the upcoming months. He was so thankful that boy got his mothers eyes... But the bigger question was...

He and Sakura glanced at each other and in a silent agreement, Sakura gently lifted the tiny cap over his little head and both parents leaned in. Strands of dark hair lined the newborns head and it was safe to say both parents let out a sigh of relief.

"So..." Sakura began as she gently rubbed the back of her index finger against their baby's cheek. "Does he look like the name you had in mind?"

He thought for a moment then promptly shook his head. "No. You can name him."

She seemed giddy with his decision. "When I was younger there a story my father used to tell me and the name of the little boy stuck with me, so it's a name that I guess I've been saving for my own son..."

"What is it?" He questioned, leaning forward to be just a little closer to the two.

She smiled and snuggled their son just a teeny little bit more. "Makoto.. But I like the shortened version of the name like in the storybook, Mako."

Sasuke smiled a genuine smile. "Makoto Uchiha."

* * *

_OMG IT'S A SON!  
There's only a few more chapter before I officially start the sequel!  
Were you guys happy?! Tell me! Also, please don't be upset over the name. Choosing names in different languages is hard. I don't know what sounds nice and what doesn't and in all honesty I chose this for the shortened version of the name, Mako._

_**Thanks** for the reviews and to the people that gave me their opinion on what they thought the sex would be! Keep them coming!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


	38. Chapter 38

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 38-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

A few minutes after Sakura had announced the name she desired for their child, the nurse advised her that she should breastfeed the baby as soon as she was comfortable with the idea. She'd been talking about how it was much better to breastfeed the baby rather than putting them immediately on the formula, so she allowed the nurse to help her hold their son just the proper way.

Sasuke was still in complete shock that this actually happened, though he was completely grateful for everything. He had a _son_.. A son! A healthy son that did not come out with pink hair. He couldn't be happier than he was, although on the outside he seemed indifferent to the situation but he knew Sakura could read him like a book. He never thought this feeling would be this intense, this feeling of overwhelming love and appreciation. He always imagined that he would be stuck in a relationship that resembled his father's and mother's, being stuck into a marriage with someone he didn't particularly know well enough to have a strong bond with and the only love that was in the house hold was for their own children. But here he was, loving the woman that gave birth to his child.

He wondered what his parents were thinking at the moment. He could guess his father would be a little ticked off that this child wouldn't be a pure-blooded Uchiha but there was nothing he could do about that. His mother, on the other hand, he could only guess she'd be happy. She was always the more lenient one of his parents and although it was customary for her and his father to choose his wife she'd be happy if he found himself happy. Not to mention she'd be exhilarated to have a grandchild.

"Sasuke?" He was torn from his thoughts when Sakura glanced over at him as she finished up breastfeeding. He popped out of his thoughts and looked over at her and couldn't help the pride that was displayed on his face. Even after just squeezing a baby out of her she looked fantastic. "You haven't held him yet..." It's not that he didn't want to hold his son but he was just the tiniest bit nervous about it. "You need to hold him."

"I'd rather you just hold him-"

"Here." She carefully sat up and leaned forward toward him, his nervous going crazy, his heart beginning to pound. He didn't want to drop him! She cautiously handed their son over into his much larger arms and laughed. "You look so cute with him in your arms. Big tough guy with a cute little guy." Even if they looked cute, he did nothing to move, whatsoever. He even slightly held his breath in hopes that his breathing would do something to make him accidentally drop little Mako... He would do no such thing! So he stayed as still as a statue in hopes that his son would remain safe in his arms.

Even if he felt terribly uncomfortable and nervous about his skills to hold his son, it felt so right.

As cheesy as his thoughts sounded, his son belonged in his arms. Maybe not just his son, but a child in general. He knew he had to restore the clan and it wasn't just the honor he was talking about, he absolutely had to have a heir, and preferably more than one son to continue the family name down even if the Uchiha blood ran thin. Back when he wasn't in the right mind set he didn't care who birthed his sons. All he knew is that he needed them even if they were born out of wedlock. But now he had a child that he knew he would take care of and it was from a trustworthy woman that he harbored strong feelings for. He thanked the Gods he didn't do this process with somebody else in his younger years and didn't particular make a bond with his child.

Makoto would grow up in a household with people that loved him and loved each other and that was something he would strive for. It would become Sasuke's number one goal to make this child happy and if he couldn't do that then he'd be damned. When he looked down at his son laying so innocently in his arms was the first time he could really look at him. He looked somewhat frightened by all of these new surroundings that were slightly blurred by his newborn sight. Still, he gazed around curiously and glanced up at his father.

Sasuke's brows twitched slightly. "Why is he just looking at me?"

She giggled lightly. "Because he recognizes you."

"How? He's never seen me.."

"You read it yourself in that little book of yours. He can recognize your voice, as he can recognize me by my own... And those nights you thought I was asleep... Yeah, I was awake. So I know for sure he remembers your voice."

He resisted the urge to squabble back at her but he was in no mood to do so, and slightly embarrassed at that. She he just glanced back down at the newborn that continued to just look up at him.

Elsewhere...

"Hey, Ino? I know I should have called you earlier, but I need you at the hospital... Sakura gave birth!" Haru exclaimed from behind her desk hidden so her bosses wouldn't see her not doing her job. She lifted her cellphone away from her ear as a loud shriek ensued from the other side and laughed. "I know I'm in trouble, so just get down here... Because it's not the only reason I need you here."

Ino agreed and Haru was surprised to see the blonde crashing through the hospital doors still dress in her silken lavender pajamas. "How long ago did she give birth?!"

Haru clambered back up into her rolling chair and crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe half an hour ago. I didn't call you here to visit her, though, there's a problem..." Ino cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "I got a call from that redheaded girl. I guess she caught wind that Sakura went into labor and asked when visitation hours were. I don't know what to do."

Ino angrily grit her teeth, practically fuming. "Karin." She spat her name out like it was a nasty tasting food. "That woman will come even when she's not wanted, we're going to have to stand guard!"

Haru punched her fist into the palm of her hand. "Yeah!"

...

As she cuddled herself back into her bed she smiled at the two lovingly. It was a precious sight to see. Sasuke, one everybody thought had no feelings whatsoever, holding his tiny newborn son in his large arms. Ever since she learned so many years ago that Sasuke would have traded his life for training to defeat Itachi she thought he'd never be able to carry on the Uchiha name and it made her feel terrible, even though he wasn't in her life anymore. All she could say now was that she felt so.. Different, and happy and honored that she brought new life into the Uchiha name.

Not just that, their son was just plain perfect. He came out just the way she imagined. Healthy bouncing baby boy. With big chubby cheeks, chubby little arms and legs, a perfect little button nose, perfectly healthy weight and height, and of course that black hair he got from his father! There's nothing more she could have asked for! She could tell her was already going to be a charmer, again, just like his father.

As for the name, she had been stressing about it for months now. Sasuke was a picky man, so he was extremely hard to please, and if she chose the wrong name she didn't want him going after her and saying it wasn't an 'Uchiha' name. Makoto wasn't just a name that she remembered from her youth. It meant _sincerity_. It wasn't just the word that grabbed her, it represented what had happened in the last year in her life. Sasuke was always dramatically stoic and always withheld information from or anyone else for that matter. But ever since they kindled their relationship the words he spoke had more meaning than the usual lies he would spew back in the day. They were sincere words that she knew she could hold to him. She liked the name because it marked a post in their relationship where no more lies and hurtful things would ever come from Sasuke's lips.

"I hope you like the name."

He glanced over and raised a suspicious brow he gave her when she had self doubt in front of her. "If I didn't like the name you would know of it."

"Do you know any Makoto Uchiha's?"

He blinked and thought for a moment. "Not that I know of, no.. I like it better that way. It's more original."

Beaming, Sakura clapped her hands together. "That's great! I was so nervous!" She knew he'd never say anything if he didn't like it, she guessed it was because he was still slightly nervous from her amount of strength that was close to breaking his hand into pieces. "Do you like the shortened version? You don't think it's too girly?"

"Even _if_ it's a unisex name, I don't mind the shortened version." Her heart grew ten times its size when Sasuke held little Mako in one arm and gently poked at his face with his free hand.

"So can you tell me the names you had in mind?" He shook his head, still paying attention to their son. She puckered her lips out and gazed around the room. "Why not?"

"I don't want to say them until I'm naming a child."

She groaned and pulled her blanket over her shoulders and underneath her nose, eyeing the two boys. This is what it's going to be like for eighteen years, eh? The two boys going off and training all day? Going on missions? She pursed her lips together. She wanted Mako to be a mama's boy so she wasn't going to be left on the outs. Or at least Sasuke could give her a daughter.

"I'm going to sleep. You hang out with him some more." She announced to him as she let her eyes flutter shut. She was tired and it was hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"What do I do with him?" He hurriedly asked her with that cute little panicked tone. When she didn't reply Sasuke let out a huff and stared back down at the little boy who kept on staring him right in the eyes. He tapped his foot idly, thinking it over. He didn't look particularly tired, just like a lazy little baby that wanted to barely blink as he stared at his father. "Don't you want to sleep?" He didn't expect a reply but he too was tired so he needed to put him somewhere safe.

There was nothing in this room suitable to hold his son safe so he let out a sigh. He leaned back in his hospital chair and kicked his legs out that were currently aching like crazy. He could put him with Sakura but he didn't want to disturb her at the moment, so that was out of the question. He would just have to keep holding onto him until a nurse could bring a cradle. He didn't like it but it's what has to be done.

So he cradled his son close to his chest and let his own eyes flutter shut.

...

The two girls dragged plastic hospital chairs until they stopped in front of Sakura's delivery room, looking triumphant with themselves. They took their seats and glanced at each other. "Nobody is getting in here without our permission!"

...

Being awoken by the horrid sound of scraping chairs outside of her door, Sakura cracked an eye open and her heart warmed up when she saw the sight in front of her. It seemed Sasuke finally got the rest he seriously needed, dozing away peacefully in the hospital chair, his face in a neutral state, not scowling nor smirking, and their son in his arms. It was quite precious, really, to see that tiny being held in the large muscular arms of someone much larger and you'd think twice if they'd even be seen with a baby. She wondered how he could even sleep in that position but then again she thought if he was as tired as he looked he could sleep anywhere.

...

Both girls were sprawled out on their chairs their eyes lazily wandering the pages of their fashion and makeup magazines when a blinding flash of red made them want to claw their eyes out. "Oh God!" Ino screeched, tossing the magazine to the side as she bolted to her feet, dramatically wiping her eyes of the horrid view. "I think I've gone blind!"

Startled, Haru slid her paper onto the floor and jumped up to her feet, putting her hand on her hip. She loved some good drama and that's why her and Ino were the best of friends.

When Ino reopened her clenched shut eyes, she smirked to the red-headed woman, an epic stare down between the two. "Oh - it's just you." She drawled out, crossing her arms sassily. "What the hell are you doing here? Last I checked you weren't somebody that was wanted around here."

Karin scoffed angrily and crossed her arms also, giving both girls the once over before snarling."Oh, that's funny because last I checked that baby was legally _mine_! That homewrecking whore shouldn't even have seen the thing once she birthed it."

"That's it!" Ino rolled up her satin sleeves and took a threatening step forward. "I dare you to say that about my best friend again! I dare you!"

"You're only angry because you know it's true!" Karin retorted, stepping forward as well, both girls getting into each others faces.

Growling, Ino placed the fingers of each hand on Karins shoulders and pushed them backwards. "Sakura's not a whore! Or a home wrecker! Sasuke and her were _destined_ for each other! Not like your phony ass marriage where you couldn't even keep him happy!"

Karin scowled and pushed the blonde back. "Yeah?! And how many times have you been married?! I'm guessing none. I can already tell how unbearable you are!"

"Just go home, wherever the hell that is!" Haru stepped into the ring of drama with a dirty smirk. "That baby was never yours in the first place."

"I have legal documents and if they fight it I'll get full custody of that child!"

"You're not even the real mom! If you can't keep a man happy how in the world are you going to keep a baby happy, huh?"

Karin grit her teeth. "Just get the hell out of my way."

"This is their moment and we aren't going to step aside to let you ruin it!" Ino pushed Karin into the wall, all three women fuming and their clenched fists shaking. "Go! Go get Naruto, we freakin' dare you!"

Karin huffed loudly and let down her fists. "I will! And they'll never see that kid again!" She screamed and as she turned to leave she shoved Haru into the wall.

Ino grabbed Haru's shoulder and shook her head. "Let her go get Naruto, it's not like it's gonna WORK!" She yelled with a smirk, triumphantly grinning. "See that Haru? That's a real bitch."

The door beside them was pulled right open and a scowling Sasuke appeared before them. They both chuckled innocently, scratching behind their heads. "What the hell is going on out here?" Sasuke looked from the right to the left suspiciously, staring at the women.

"Oh h-hey Sasuke! What's up...? We're just, um..."

"Uh.. We're takin' care of business! Nothing more!"

Both girls continued to chuckle lightly, looking more and more guilty by the second.

"Sasuke!" Who's there?" Sakura's voice echoed from behind him and both girls pushed passed the Uchiha, flocking to Sakura's sides. "Ino! Haru!"

"Oh Sakura!" Ino gushed, placing her hands on Sakura's upper arms and leaning in to view the little round face of the baby in her arms. "Look at that little precious thing! What is it? A boy or girl?!"

"This is our little son, Makoto."

"Awww! Little Mako!"

Mako's eyes cracked open and his mouth twisted up sourly, not liking having been woken from his sleep.

"Oh jeez Ino look what you did!" Haru cried in a gently whisper, flicking Ino's forehead. "You woke the poor thing!" Haru gently scooped little Mako into her arms and rocked him gently. "He looks just like his mama!"

"I don't know Haru, he's more of a mix between them!"

"You did wonderful Sakura, a healthy little boy!"

As Sasuke watched them from the doorway, he puckered his lips out with a furrowed brow. He wouldn't admit it but he still wanted to cherish his sons life before these goons showed up, and especially when they woke him up with their spine tingling voices. He'd have to apologize to Mako for that later.

* * *

_Fear Karins wrath of... Getting Naruto? Muahahah! An the girls to the rescue! Naruto will appear next chapter! _

_THANKS FOR THE REVIEW WE REACHED 300! A special thanks to MINNIEMOUSEMOM for that special 300th review! They mean the world to me and seeing you guys happy gives me inspiration for the story. _

_Plus Naruto's latest manga chapter IMO..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!_


	39. Chapter 39

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 39-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

* * *

About an hour after they arrived with their baby waking loudness, Ino and Haru found themselves having to leave. Sasuke didn't mind at all because as he saw it they were just too loud and were taking up all of Sakura's attention, leaving him to idly watch them angrily from the corner of his eye. They never admitted what was happening outside that door but he was fairly certain it had to do with a certain ex-wife. So being the usual protective person he was he had his eyes on that door after he came to that conclusion.

He finally let his guard down a few hours into being suspicious, but with his awful luck the door slammed right open to someone he wasn't particularly expecting. Naruto burst through the door with the largest bouquet of flowers he could have possibly found. "SAKURA! OH MY-..." When his blue eye opened he was face to face with Sakura breast feeding her baby. He screeched loudly, dropped the flowers, and ran through the door with an "I'M SORRY!"

Sakura rolled her eyes with a light laugh while Sasuke merely shook his head, muttering the word idiot.

A little while later, an embarrassed Naruto peeked his head around the corner of the doorway with flustered cheeks, making sure there were no naked breasts with babies attached to them. Once he scanned the room he made his entrance with yet another bouquet of flowers. "Sakura~!" He chimed innocently like nothing had ever happened, striding in with swagger in his step. "You have a baby!"

He noticed how Sasuke scowled in his direction and he laughed right in his face. "Outta the way jerk!" Seeing as how there was only one chair in this room, Sakura looked over to Sasuke and gave him a look. The look of betrayal, as Sasuke saw it, and stood up from his chair. "Heheh.." Naruto chuckled and carefully sat down on the chair, leaning into the bed to get a closer look. "Wow! It's an actual real baby!"

"Well what were you expecting Naruto?" Sakura smiled and offered the small bundle of joy, which Naruto happily took into his awaiting arms. She could see Sasuke's scowl grow, his eyes watching Naruto's every move like a hawk, and she giggled. He'd have to get over the fact that there will be people poking and prodding and loving their son which would take away from his own time.

"Huh? Well, I don't know.. It's just weird to actually see it!" Naruto laughed and pulled the little boy close to him, gently touching his cheek. "What is it? A girl or a boy?"

Sakura smiled proudly. "A little boy. His name's Makoto."

"Aaah, Mako for short right? I remember that story!" Naruto continued to play around with the tiny human in his arms, cooing at him playfully. "Look at youu! Once me and Hinata get married and have a daughter we'll wed you both off, and have our families connected forever!"

"Like that will happen." Sasuke scoffed from the other side of the room with a dirty scowl, his arms crossed over his chest. He looked like a little boy that wasn't getting what he wanted. Naruto merely waved him off.

"Your daddy is so mean, right? Wouldn't you want me as a father in law? I'm so much cooler! You're cool with this, right Sakura?!"

Sakura shrugged and just to please him she agreed with him. "I suppose so. Then you two can't fight anymore because you'll be family!"

"I'd rather have my child marry an Inuzuka than marry your children."

"What are you saying?!"

Sakura rubbed her temples with a long sigh. Even if they'd become family their fighting would never cease. "Anyways... Who told you?"

"Wha?" Naruto broke his death glare with Sasuke once she piped up and thought for a moment, rubbing the corner of his mouth. "Oh! Well, um... Who do you think?"

Sakura sighed again. "And what did she have to say to you? I mean she never even paid a visit here."

"Well she told me she did come here a few hours ago but two girls wouldn't let her in."

Sakura looked greatly confused until Sasuke stepped forward. "He's right. It was Ino and that other one, I could hear them bickering outside the door with her."

"Oh great. I bet Ino and Haru made it worse. What did Karin tell you?"

Gently rocking the wide awake baby in his arms, Naruto thought for a moment. "She brought up the legal papers that you three had signed and since those were signed she wanted to fight for shared custody between her and Sasuke." The room fell silent and Naruto knew exactly why. "It's... A sticky situation. By law you're not even supposed to be with little Mako here, regardless of if he's your baby biologically. It's gonna be hard to find a way around this one, Sakura... You know you're lucky she hasn't asked me to have you arrested. Even if she says you have intent to kidnap this baby from her you'd be arrested on the spot."

"But I'm here and that baby is mine."

"Parents can be charged with kidnapping, not just people outside the family. So I dunno what's gonna happen." A silence ensued, all except Naruto's baby blabber to Mako.

...

A little while later, and much to Sasuke's annoyance, Naruto was still present in the room. The room quieted down when three precise knocks sounded at the door. He could sense Sakura's immediate distrust in those knocks and held Mako close to her chest, while Naruto quietly stood up, contemplating whether or not it was the woman they were speaking about earlier. Sasuke knew Karin was too impatient to bother knocking like that so she strode over to the door and was immediately bombarded.

Two men shuffled into the rooms, their arms loaded with flowers. "From Ino!" He recognized one of the men. He hated one of those men. He wanted to kill one of those men. It was the punk Sakura had 'something with' all that time ago... He scowled and stared lasers to the young man. The two guys began to randomly place the tons of flowers everywhere, Sasuke was amazed they could even carry that many potted plants and bouquets, and that there was enough counter space in this room. He continued to scowl until the men left.

It was then he realized this delivery room resembled the delivery room in his dreams. Full of love, no Karin, flowers everywhere, a healthy child - it was all here.

Sasuke continued to stand on the other side of the room until another set of knocks sounded at the door, and now all three of them were nervous it was the dreaded woman trying to pay a visit. Sasuke paced over to the door reluctantly and wrapped his hand around the doorknob, pulling it open. He pulled it open to see a familiar face.

"Kakashi." Sasuke took a step to the side to allow the man entrance into the room, wanting to remain stoic. As far as he knew Kakashi was on the outs about everything that was happening in their lives. Kakashi gave him a slight nod with a half-wave.

"Hello Sasuke. Congratulations on a child!" He greeted and greatly surprised Sasuke. He knew it was either Sakura or Naruto who confessed the truth. Kakashi smoothly walked over to the opposite side of Sakura's bed. "I'm surprised to see you here, Naruto, shouldn't you be planning a festival of some sorts?"

"Nah, Hinata said she'd take care of it." Everybody that wasn't Naruto rolled their eyes.

Kakashi leaned in for a better look at the infant in Sakura's arms. "Congratulations, Sakura. Now, is this a little or boy girl?" He inquired calmly as Sakura lifted the Mako into his awaiting arms, her old Sensei getting a close look.

"A little boy named Makoto." Sakura smiled fondly as she watched her old Team 7 Sensei look upon her son proudly.

"Ah, that's special." Kakashi scoured little Mako's face with a grimace beneath his mask. "I've been waiting for this for a while, you know."

"Yeah." Naruto laughed as he scratched behind his head. "Except I always imagined Sasuke having an accident baby, y'know, when he wasn't here and insane." Kakashi nodded along to his words which infuriated Sasuke.

"I thought the same thing." Kakashi agreed, returning his glance back toward Mako while Sakura hurriedly waved her hands around.

"Okay okay guys..." She knew once she saw that deathly look in Sasuke's eyes they were starting to get on his nerves. "Who do you guys think he looks like?"

"The only thing that looks like Sasuke is the dark hair, that's it."

"No, Naruto, he's got the same shaped eyes as Sasuke."

"Everything about him looks like Sakura. I thought for sure the baby would have black eyes!"

"As did I."

"He's got Sakura's round face too."

"Ugh, Naruto that's because he's a baby." Sakura rolled her eyes and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, stretching her toes apart before placing them onto the cooling tiled floor. She stretched her back out, rolled her ankles around carefully, and cracked her back before pacing over to Sasuke's side on the other side of the room. "Don't be so angry."

He merely stared at her. She knew him so she knew that would be impossible. "All of these people are ticking me off."

"It's a big thing when a baby is born, Sasuke, they just want to meet him!" She smiled faintly and wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a small kiss. "You should be proudly showing him off, not angrily staying back here. I always imagined you parading around the village when you had a baby."

He smirked and gave her a slight shrug. "I thought I would be too but these people are annoying."

"They're going to keep coming and coming as long as there's a new baby in town." She laughed and cuddled up to his side. "Plus it feels nice to show him off."

He did admit it felt excellent having these people stand in awe before his sons very presence. Usually whenever an Uchiha baby was born the family would open their house to whoever came. Those who came were mainly people with babies of the opposite gender and would talk about perhaps betrothing their children to each other when they came of age. He and Itachi both had these welcoming home parties and he found it rather odd that he was betrothed to one of the baby girls that was paraded around his house. He would do no such thing as betrothing his son and he knew Sakura would agree.

...

Later that evening Kakashi and Naruto had finally said their goodbyes to everyone and everything seemed quiet until more knocks sounded on the door and they both knew who exactly it was. Sakura pressed her lips into a thin line and pulled the blankets against her body, watching the door with eyes like a hawk while Sasuke paced over to the door carefully with Mako in his arms.

He wrapped his hand around the doorknob and turned it, earning a small click from the lock and pulled open the door to see the one and only Karin. Like Sakura, he was watching every single move she made and each breath she took, keeping his straight composure. Even though he wanted nothing to do with her right now, he knew he could trust she wouldn't do anything drastic so when she outstretched her arms he (reluctantly) handed Mako over.

Karin held him the right way, he'd give her that. She held him carefully, almost afraid of dropping the fragile child. Her expression was indifferent;however, she didn't look like she cared for Mako's well being despite looking like she wanted to be cautious with this child. Being passed on to another being awoke the newborn and we he opened his tired green eyes Sasuke smirk and Karin snarled.

He knew Karin would never love this child if it looked like another woman, never. She was too jealous for that sort of thing. She already told him a while back that she had been praying for this child to come out with the combination of black and and black stared into that pair of innocent green eyes that belonged to another woman.

She basically shoved Mako back into his arms and folded her arms across her chest with a dirty scowl. "You can keep that stupid kid, I'm signing it off before I do anything else." She spat and swiveled around, shooting Sakura a dirty glance before storming out of the room and into the mess of hallways of the hospital.

Still smirking, Sasuke looked over to Sakura who already had tears running down her face, her lips curling upwards into a smile. "Oh my God.." She tried wiping her tears away on her blankets but it failed because they kept on forcing their way out of her eyelids. "...Did she just say that? I'm not dreaming?"

With a slight chuckle, Sasuke sat beside her bed in the hospital chair. "You're not dreaming."

"Finally!" She let out a shaky sigh and stared up at the ceiling, tears still spilling down the soft flesh of her cheeks. "There's nothing to worry about anymore... We can finally be a family."

* * *

_Bye-bye Karin hehe.. For now.. But that will have to wait for the sequel, hehe. ALSO! There may only be one or two more chapters, so I hope you guys enjoyed this story and if you did I'll be posting the sequel to this story! So don't leave this story yet without checking out the next one when I'll have it posted.  
_

_You guys know it, but still, thanks for the reviews! They make me exhilarated! Not to mention those ever growing faves and followers! _

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!_


	40. Chapter 40

_Surrogacy_

_-chapter 40-_

_rated for language / adult themes_

_-minor manga spoilers-_

* * *

"Aweh~!" Sakura cooed happily, staring down at her beloved son on the changing table, fully dressed in festive clothing as she was. He looked absolutely darling in his blue attire, staring up at his mother with his large green eyes, clenching his fists gently waiting for more of her attention. They had only gotten home from the hospital a few days before so being introduced to a new surrounding was still confusing to the little Uchiha and would become even more confusing when Sakura paraded him around the streets in the time of the festival no more than half an hour away. "Look at my handsome little man..." She smiled brightly and scooped Mako into her arms and lovingly snuggled him close, admiring her work.

Unfortunately for them Sasuke was being forced to be on duty for the festival. He was regarded as one of the top Anbu agents, and although Naruto did not want to have him working this soon after his son was born, they couldn't face another Sound attack without Sasuke at the front lines. She was somewhat disappointed in this but she thought if him working this night to possibly save lives than she'd rather have him doing that than be at her side. Besides, she had to see her parents and they weren't particularly fond of Sasuke and were kept in the dark about everything in her life - Sakura even asked the hospital to keep her name hidden so her father wouldn't pay a visit.

She sighed and continued to plant many kisses and cuddle Mako. "My parents will freak out when they see you Mako, so beware.." Sakura smiled and made her her bag had the necessities Mako needed before slipping into her sandals and leaving the manse.

Ino was at her side without a moment to lose, gawking at Mako. "Look at that sweet lil' thing!" She gushed and poked and prodded at Mako's outfit. "I knew I made a good decision!"

"Yeah, you did. I love it."

"I think it suits him!" Ino snatched Mako away from Sakura carefully and gave him a kiss on his cheek, leaving the little newborn to make a funny little face at the woman. "Cutie patootie!" With that, she handed the baby back over to Sakura and took a step back. "Anyways, I've got to go help my mother with the flower stand, so come say Hi, I know my mom wants to meet Mako!"

"Alright, I'll make sure to head over!" They bid their farewells, leaving Sakura to look around at the decorations strung overhead, catching Mako's attention. The lanterns had the words 'fall festival' scrawled on their fronts and back and consisted of different fall themes colors like red and yellow. "Look at all of these colors, Mako!"

Now even though on the outside she seemed calm and collected she had a nagging feeling the meeting with her parents would not go as she planned and knowing them, they'd make it a huge spectacle. They told her to meet at the small tea cafe down the road from her current position, so she sucked up her fears and began to head that way. She could see them sitting down underneath the awning, chatting with large smiles on their faces and teas in their hands. She gave her son one last kiss before nodding to herself and walking her ass over to them.

"Mother! Father!" Sakura greeted with a somewhat fake smile plastered on her face, holding onto Mako for dear life. She watched as they tore their glances away form each other and stared at her blankly, giving her a 'once-over' multiple times. "I-I know... You may have a lot of questions-"

"Sakura!" Her mother shrieked loudly, smacking her hands on her cheeks, looking absolutely horrified. "A... A baby?"

"What's going on Sakura?!" Her father questioned, placing his tea down onto the table with a stern glance. She felt a cold chill run down her spine and she quickly took a seat at the table, taking a deep breath.

"Well, a lot has happened since I last talked to you two..." She began, positioning Mako so they could see his innocent round little face in hopes they wouldn't raise their voices any higher. "So I guess all I can say at the moment is, this is your grandson, Makoto."

Both parents sat their with their jaws hitting the floor and eyes widening to the size of dinner plates. "W-what?! Sakura when the heck did this happen!?" Even though shock overwhelmed her mother, she still outstretched her arms and joyfully took the little boy close to her, looking down upon him with mixed emotions. "I thought you were a surrogate mother..."

"Yes, as did I, Sakura." Her father stared at her suspiciously, stroking the facial hair that lined his face. "You better pipe up!"

"Ah, well.." She began nervously, running through what exactly to tell them and how. "The father I was 'surrogating' for was.." She watched as her father leaned in suspiciously. He hated Sasuke with a passion, ever since he left the village and ever since he returned he hated the Uchiha more than anything for hurting his daughter. She gulped. "Uhm.."

...

Watching the woman he loved approach her parents with the biggest surprise of their lives was bitter sweet for him. From behind his mask he scowled and squinted his eyes to make sure she was not in harms way. He could see the shocked expressions that were written all over their faces and he knew he had to be there.

He was certain the Sound wouldn't attack the village. He reread the intel they'd been gathering and no signs pointed toward Konoha being hit with an unexpected attack, so as he told himself that, he slid the mask off his face and was off the rooftop in a flash. He jumped down into the crowd and watched as Sakura took a seat and he could hear her fathers voice prying her for information she seemed reluctant to give. He knew her father hated him but unlike Sakura, he would not stutter upon his own name.

So he pushed through the crowd and when Sakura began to shakingly utter his name he was behind her in a flash. "It was me." He stared down at the man his son would call grandfather and the moment their eyes met Kizashi took to his feet, his blue eyes burning with hatred. Unlike Sakura, he knew he wouldn't back down against this man.

"Sakura!" Kizashi growled, his teeth grinding against each other and his fists clenching to the point where his knuckles turned white. "You've got to be kidding me!" Meanwhile, Sakura's mother still rocked Mako in her arms gently, trying her best to keep her calm composure.

"Dad, please.." Sakura begged but it did not budge the mans strong opinion on the matter, who looked at his wife to back him up. When Mebuki refused to take part in this discussion, Kizashi snapped his attention back to the other man.

"This had better be a joke Sakura!"

"Do you see her laughing?" Sasuke bit out, earning an even more bitter expression from the man.

"You!" Kizashi poked Sasuke in the chest roughly, snarling in the process. "Should have been incarcerated, that would have been the least they could have done!"

"The least they could have done was what they did."

Kizashi shook his head roughly. "What they should have done was have you-"

"Dad!" Sakura took to her feet as well, stepping in between both of them, shooting her father a deathly look. "It's in the past now, so leave it! You were the one whining that I couldn't keep the child in the first place!"

Bewildered, Kizashi raised a fist and shook it in the air. "B-but I had no idea it was for him...! Weren't you married?!"

"I was."

"That's horrible! The Gods will-"

"Ugh, who cares what the Gods think." Sakura rolled her eyes lazily and retook her seat at the table, watching her mother out of the corner of her eyes. Mebuki was minding her own business, smiling gently as she cuddled Mako close and carefully booped his button nose. At least she knew her mother loved her son! "It's either you stop whining or you can just forget you have a grandson!"

Groaning in defeat, Kizashi rubbed his head and sat down, now completely ignoring Sasuke and shooting a glance at his grandson. "What was his name again?"

"His name is Makoto, a name you should be familiar with." Sakura announced as Mebuki handed Mako over into Kizashi's arms and his face immediately lit up.

"Mako! Ah, that is a name I recognize! I can't believe you remembered that through all of these years, Sakura." He gleefully took little Mako into his arms and began to assess his grandson, memorizing every single little detail on the newborns face, watching his eyes closely to make sure they weren't glossy, and to see if his chest was rising and falling at the appropriated times. "Hmm, I'm surprised this child did not come out with pink hair!"

"Dad that would have been horrible!" Sakura cried with a smile while her father looked absolutely flabbergasted.

"What are you saying-" His wife had cut him off with a playful sneer.

"Could you imagine Kizashi? An Uchiha with pink hair? They'd be the laughing stock of the village!" She chuckled which earned a light chuckle from her husband.

"Not that they already aren't-"

"Dad!"

All the while they never noticed as Sasuke slipped away, hoping his fellow anbu members never noticed his absence from his patrol.

When Sakura did notice, she felt a sting of guilt that she didn't try harder to shut her father up but she knew it was for the better so she could properly get her parents to bond with Mako. "I'm really sorry I didn't tell you two when I went into labor. With the way dad reacted now, I know I would have done something more serious while facing the pains of labor."

"Oh I understand completely Sakura..." Her mother started, still eyeing the baby in her husbands arms. She leaned in toward Sakura and squinted at her. "But you could have told me, and not your father!" Sakura shrugged.

"I know I could have but I would have felt bad telling one and not the other. Dad overreacted when he found out I told you about the surrogacy before him. I just didn't want to face that again."

"Ah, fine fine." Mebuki sighed and leaned back in her chair yet cocked her head towards her husband, still eyeing the tiny baby. "I love that little baby already, Sakura. He's beautiful."

"And healthy!"

Smiling, Sakura agreed to her parents words with a nod. "I labored for seven-ish hours for him and in my pain I didn't know if it was worth it but when I saw his face... I don't want to sound too cheesy, but I knew everything I endured was worth it, just for him."

"Now, tell me the specifics. I believed you were being a traditional surrogate, now this? What happened? Were you even a surrogate?"

"Um..." She was pretty reluctant to tell them they basically got together while he was still married, so she tried to think up another story. As she was doing so, she grimaced when Mako came to save the day and made a small noise for more attention and even though he couldn't see very well, he outstretched a little hand and just so happened to come across his grandfathers much larger finger.

"Oh look at that!" Mebuki relished over him, leaning over the table and gently touching the tiny chubby fingers that grasped at nothing while his other hand rested upon Kizashi's finger. "I've missed these tiny little fingers!"

"Strong boy!" Kizashi grimaced proudly while Sakura let out a sigh. She was off the hook. _For now_.

...

When she finally pried Mako from her fathers arms, Sakura 'mysteriously disappeared' into the crowd to get the hell away from them. "Sorry Mako they're a bit.. Odd." She smiled as she cuddled him close to her chest, observing the people that slowly passed by, gazing at the lanterns in awe. She was specifically scoping out all of the women with tiny babies around Mako's age to get an idea as to which kids would be in the academy in his year. Not to mention all of the little female babies that could possibly be her daughter in law...

"Sakura!" Naruto's voice boomed through the streets and their eyes locked. He looked amazing in his long flowing white Hokage cloak. He looked more mature than wearing his ridiculous orange jumpsuit. He bounded through the crowds and skidded to a halt in front of her. "Hey little Mako!"

"You did a great job planning this festival with the staff as well as Hinata. This is beautiful Naruto!"

"Hehe, thanks Sakura. I didn't know if everything was going to happen or not before the deadline!" Naruto snatched Mako away from her and playfully poked his cheek. Sakura knew she wouldn't be holding her son that much this night. "You like these lanterns little buddy?"

"Naruto he's close to being blind, he hasn't seen any of these decorations."

"Whaaa? He's close to being BLIND?"

"Newborns are practically blind until the end of their first month, so yes, close to being blind."

"Awww Mako! I bet your daddy didn't like hearing that you were practically blind!"

Sakura rolled her eyes playfully and gazed around, occasionally seeing patrol officers scouting the rooftops. "You sure did get a lot of security for tonight."

"Yeah, I couldn't risk it... With what happened to you last time I don't know if I could live with myself if you or Mako here got injured."

"That's sweet, Naruto. Ah!" A large smile graced her face as she spotted someone. "Hinata!" Within moments the woman appeared before the three, a gentle smile growing as she spotted the baby within Naruto's arm.

"Ah, Sakura! Is this your son?" She questioned with her soothing voice, joy written on her face as she took in the appearance of the baby. Sakura nodded.

"Yes it is! I can't believe you haven't met him yet!" Sakura cooed gently just as Naruto carefully laid Mako into Hinata's waiting arms, who then stared down at the child lovingly. Sakura took in this scene. As Naruto looked over Hinata's shoulder to the baby she could only imagine him doing this with Hinata with their own child. She knew that although he wasn't mature enough right know he'd be a great father one day.

"He's so beautiful Sakura..." The woman hummed gently, coddling the boy close to her chest. "I'm glad the delivery went as planned."

"As am I, I was terrified I wouldn't make it since I wanted to do everything naturally."

"But it proved healthier and safer for him, right?"

She nodded. "Yes. In the end I was glad I went with the natural birth."

Hinata nodded gently, as if she were taking in information for future reference. Sakura smiled lovingly. Naruto better hurry up and make that woman happy.

"The best view of the fireworks would be from the top of the Hokage's mansion, that reminds me, can Mako even be around fireworks?" Naruto questioned curiously, staring down at the newborn who's eyes were slowly drooping.

"Yes, he'll be fine as long as the fireworks are where they're usually shot off and he falls asleep before they happen, then we are good."

"Alright good! Come on then!" Naruto grinned happily and led the women through the streets, waving at people happily as he did with a hop in his step and greeting the little children that grabbed onto his pants. Sakura noticed by the time they got to the doors of the manse Mako had fallen right to sleep in her arms and she prayed he'd stay that way through the explosions. Walking up the stairs they ran into a few people of their year, including Rock Lee and Tenten, who told them they had been overlooking the village with Neji in their thoughts.

"Is this your son, Sakura?!" Rock Lee's eyes widened and sparkled at the mere sight of the youth. "May I hold him?!

"Of course you can, Lee." One again she carefully handed her son over to another person, biting her lip as she saw his tiny eyelid twitching but he remained sleeping. But she supposed showing her son off is just as important as seeing the fall fireworks.

"My my, Sakura! He is a healthy looking child!" He beamed brightly, staring down at the sleeping being in his arms, his lips curling up into a smile. Tenten reached over his shoulder and gently stroked Mako's large round cheek with her index finger.

"He really is Sakura, congratulations!" Tenten smiled although Sakura could see the sadness that once washed over her face. Her eyes were puffy from tears that she knew poured down her face, even Rock Lee had sadness hiding behind his energetic happy looking eyes. Sakura could even see wet spots on Tentens white qipao where she presumed tears had fallen. "He looks a lot like you!"

"That's what everybody is saying."

"It is true, he bears a striking resemblance to yourself!"

"He's just adorable." Tenten took a step back and admired the small child though Sakura could see her mind wandered.

When Rock Lee noticed Mako's eyelid twitching he profusely apologized for being a bother to his sleeping and carefully handed him back to his mother and the two bid their farewells.

"There's not gonna be a person that doesn't love Mako around here Sakura!" Naruto joked as he began to bound up the stairs again. Hinata and Sakura both smiled at each other before following after him. It felt good to know that even if her and Sasuke were no longer able to care for Mako that he'd be in good hands regardless.

When they finished climbing the steps to the top of the Hokage manse almost everybody smiled contently. The view was spectacular like Naruto had since and since the evening was falling upon them, the lights of the village sparkled everywhere, illuminating the people that partied down below.

"The fireworks will look amazing here, Naruto."

"I know! I come here to think... And to sleep when there's too much paperwork in my office. It's great!"

"You're a smart man Naruto!" Came a familiar voice from behind them and all three twirled around to face Tsunade, who had a content smile on her face. "This is where I'd come when I was too overwhelmed in my first few years."

"Hehe yeah, but I think I do it too much." He ended the sentence with a guilty chuckle but what was funnier is that Hinata profusely nodded to his statement. "Eehh, sorry Hinata." Sakura found it incredibly cute that Hinata would do her best to make sure Naruto was well and his work was completed.

"And who is this?" The former Hokage paced toward Sakura and made grabby hands at Mako with a soft smile. "I was informed that you had been in the hospital to deliver this little baby and so I've been waiting to finally meet them!"

Sakura placed Mako into her arms and for the hundredth time she introduced Mako. "This is our son, Makoto. Everyone seems more inclined to call him Mako, though." Pride filled her chest as her former teacher and idol held the most precious thing in her life, looking down at the little boy with pride in her own eyes. Tsunade never had children of her own and on rare occasions tell Sakura she was like the daughter she never had.. So Mako would be like the grandson she never had. The same way Kakashi looked upon Team 7 as if they were his own kids he had to reprimand - especially since two of them lacked parents.

"Little Mako, eh? He's at a great size for a newborn, congratulations Sakura!" Tsunade smirked and carefully handed the son back over to Sakura. "So when can I have you back at work?"

"EEHHH!" Naruto gasped loudly, stomping over into Tsunade's face angrily, pointing an accusing finger in her face. "You can't make poor Sakura work!"

"I know, Naruto, I'm kidding." She rolled her eyes and all four now whirled around as the warning firework shot off, meaning that the show would start in ten minutes.

Sakura was so thankful Mako stayed quiet in his peaceful sleep. She was even more thankful when another person found themselves on the roof.

"Shouldn't you be on duty?" She questioned as he slowly paced up to the group, pulled his mask away from his face. He shrugged and she raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Then why aren't you?!" Naruto got into their bubble, raising an eyebrow as well, giving Sasuke a stupid look he knew Sasuke hated. "I clearly remember you being signed up for patrol tonight."

"The village is locked up tight tonight, Naruto. They're not going to miss a single pair of eyes for ten minutes."

"It'll matter because your eyes are, I hate to admit, the best eyes we have on the team, soo...!"

"Just be quiet." Everybody but Naruto smirked so he let out a puffy sigh.

"Fine, but I'm going to blame any attack on you." He crossed his arms over his chest and puckered lips, turning to look back at the beautiful village he called his own.

Tsunade looked at both Sasuke and Sakura with slight curiosity, watching them both like a hawk. She indulged in some gossip earlier in the month and learned that Sasuke and Karin had ended their marriage on terms that were not so favorable and that Karin was threatening to steal Sasuke's portion of the custody. Although Tsunade was knowledgeable in the legal department, she knew that was never going to happen. If it was a war between Sakura and Karin, Sakura would be in favor even in the pros were in Karin's court. Her attention flicked over to Sasuke who was currently staring down at his son in Sakura's arms and Tsunade wondered what it was he was thinking at the moment. She'd only seen that look in his eyes once before and that was when he demanded Sakura's job be lessened. It was the look of true love and she used to think for a fact that that look he currently donned would never surface - and she was so friggan' thankful it did. It didn't help the fact that Tsunade loved to hound him about the past, though.

"So! Sasuke.." Tsunade took an almost threatening step forward, eyeing the Uchiha, assessing him. "If, let's say, you didn't return, where do you think you'd be?" Oh she just loved to make him grateful for the small punishment he received. Especially now he had a family to maintain, she'd make him SO grateful and fear her wrath if he ever turned on Sakura.

"I'd be dead." He droned without even a bother to give her the time of day to give her a glance, instead he continued to stare down upon his sons face, illuminated by the lanterns strung around the fence of the roof.

Even if to Sasuke what Tsunade had said was a bother it gave Sakura something to think about. He was so close to basically being killed by Orochimaru for the use of his body. He was at the point of hating his brother so very much than learning the truth about the massacre drove him to the brink of insanity, masking what he knew what was wrong and what was right. Just the thought of him being so hurt and confused he was driven insane. It sent shivers down her spine. He was a very fragile person, as much as he tried to avert everyone's attention from it, he was not an emotionless creature. Even after the pain and suffering caused by those in the village he still saw the bigger picture and that was the village as a whole. She smiled faintly.

"You would be dead, wouldn't you." It was simply amazing to her how many times he avoided it. The court trial wasn't the best experience for those associated with him. Even though she made a stern promise to herself that she would be the one to kill him, when the time came for him to possibly be executed for his crimes she stayed awake at night, frozen with fear and complete dread. Rogue's were nearly almost executed as a warning to other shinobi the consequences of abandoning their village. That fact alone haunted her. She realized she never wanted him dead, she just wanted him somewhere safe. Even if he found safety in a cell block guarded by the best anbu members, at least she knew he wasn't outside of helps reach, getting his emotions manipulated and the like. The verdict had been reached a week and a half later after his extensive folder was read to the jury and elders. She pulled a sky blue shawl over her head to keep her identity hidden and slid into a pew. She could see him from her seat in the far back, his face emotionless and she could only guess he knew he would be eliminated for his crimes. She'd never admit to it but she did cry on that day, watching those stern faces of the elders look down upon him like he was just another piece of Uchiha trash but they didn't understand him the way she or Naruto did. She would have loved to be on that jury so she could tell them the truth behind his actions yet she felt so powerless. It wasn't until Naruto burst through the doors of the courtroom and demanded audience, spilling his guts out everywhere, pleading for the minimal.

She then cried tears of joy when they rethought their decision and sentenced him to two years of chakra probation. Naruto beamed proudly. Sasuke looked indifferent to the verdict, not even giving them a simple thank you. It was then she knew Sasuke would make history as being the first rogue to just barely scrape by death. Maybe this new found luck was making up for his previous unlucky events he faced.

Fondly, she smiled. "I'm glad you aren't." Because if he was dead she'd be enjoying this festival from the window in her hospital office without a child in her arms and a man that loved her.

He just raised a brow at her, unsure from where that comment came from but he didn't question it.

A trail of dark grey smoke shot into the air with a squeal and a few seconds later popped with a roaring bang, sending a circular ball of red light into the depths of the darkened sky, illuminating almost everything it could reach.

Everyone turned to face the show, each with something or someone different in mind to celebrate. Naruto would be celebrating his new found title as Hokage, his lifelong dream. He'd be celebrating his success in this title, how he hadn't screwed up badly yet, and how he thanked everyone in his life for supporting him through this crazy adventure. Hinata would be celebrating more peaceful times passing by. She'd be celebrating the fact that not only was there peace in the countries but peace within themselves. Coping with Neji's death was probably one of the hardest things to do and together with her friends they found peace and acceptance. Tsunade was thankful for Sakura's happiness. She knew she deserved every single bit of attention and love she got from Sasuke, plus more. Without knowing it, Sakura had done so much for this village and Tsunade only wished her the best in the upcoming times.

Sasuke was thankful for an enormous amount of things. He was thankful his gut-wrenching marriage was finally put to an end, but a the same time he knew without that marriage he would have never approached Sakura on his own. If he had not approached Sakura on his own he would not be here by her side with a child bearing his name. He was thankful that she did not hold a grudge against his atrocious acts toward her, and even more thankful she was adult about the situation and did not ignore him as he did with her. He was thankful that in the beginning she offered her body to make sure he had a child to his name, for if she didn't he'd end up having a random woman giving life to his own. He couldn't imagine his son looking any different than how he shaped out to be, and that happened to be absolutely perfect.

Sakura was grateful for almost the same things as Sasuke was. She knew becoming a surrogate would do her moral goodness, but finding love in an almost loveless place? And not to mention gain a healthy loved son? It was more than she could have ever asked for or imagined. She knew her past love for Sasuke was legitimate and wasn't something of an infatuation but did she ever believe she'd _actually_ end up getting together with him? Hell no! So she was grateful for the man she fell in love with in her youth and although he may not have returned her love and affections back then, he gave her everything he had now and the best gift she could have ever asked for. A son! A beautiful son that had both a mother and a father that pledged to always be by his side through the thick and the thin. She loved him more than anything in this entire world - the entire universe and she promised she would do everything in her extensive power to keep him safe and happy.

As Sasuke placed a kiss on the top of her head, Sakura knew it could only get better from here.

_Fin_

* * *

_;-; Omg it finally happened, the ending of the story had been slowly drawing near but here it is and I'm actually pretty heartbroken, but alas, there is a next story following this! But I'm still secretly sad..._

**_The Sequel to this story has been published on my page! It's called 'Handful' and will be anxiously awaiting your arrival, for those who will stick through with this story! _**

_THANK. YOU. GUYS! It's been 40 chapters, a full 40 chapters full of drama and all the good stuff! Not counting the reviews for the chapter, there's a total of 313 total reviews, 118 follows, and 76 favs! That's by far the loveliest set of numbers I've ever had for my writing, but then again, this is the first time I've tried writing in this style, so wow! I'll take that as a good sign hehe! I'd like to thank everybody who reviewed, faved, followed, because without those I would have deleted this story and that's not a nice thing haha. Also thanks to whoever added this story into a Naruto community!_

_Again, I love you guys SOOOOO much! So goodbye to those who are officially leaving this story and will not be returning to the sequel, and to those who will be clicking off this chapter to get to my next story, see you there! _

_Fun fact... Mid story I had an awfully evil idea of having Sakura not make it after the birth due to hemorrhaging.. Terrible I know, right? Thank the Gods I didn't pull that through because I have a feeling I would have received a LOT OF HATE LET ME TELL YOU!  
_

_For the final time... Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_


End file.
